Brute Strength
by Animation Universe 2005
Summary: A young Who'aiian named Brutus comes to Whoville and his life is about to make a huge turn in his lonely life when Jojo and his friends reach out to him for friendship. T for violence, language and alcohol. Dedicated to my HHAW fanfic friends.
1. The New Kid in School

This is for all of my pack friends; vampire1031, whozonegirl and lightfaith0606. I've kept you waiting for so long and now...the wait is finally over!

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><p>Brute Strength<p>

by: Terrell James

Chapter 1: The New Kid in School

It was a clear Monday morning in Whoville and across the Fairfax Apartments, we see Jojo McDodd making his way to Whoville High. He lets out a deep sigh, regarding to the fact that the weekend is over and that he wishes Mondays would never exist. And he was definitely not looking forward to see what's gonna come his way when he gets to the school.

As he got there, he saw a new who coming in front of him and when he walked up to him, the new who didn't even bother to look. He stood there with his hands on his pockets with his Who-pod and earphones on and when he finally sees Jojo, all he could do is just stare at him and Jojo said, "Hey, how's it going?"

The new who was very mute and never said a word to him, which kinda got the sense that maybe he's silent like he used to be when he's around his dad while bragging about him being mayor of Whoville. He kinda understood his silenceness and just said, "Well, catch ya later."

Jojo then walks over to the entrance of the school and entered the hallway, just trying to make way to his locker to get his books and stuff in there. Suddenly, he sees a little note on top of his locker and when he picked it up, he reads, "Guess who got assigned into locker room mates?"

Then, he sees the signature on the bottom of it that reads 'M. & C. McKinney', which could only mean one thing...

"What up, locker room buddy?"

Jojo looks up and he sees Mike and Cody coming through and that they're sharing Jojo's locker. He lets out an amused sigh and he said, "What's up, guys?"

"Not much. We thought it'd be awesome to have the same locker as you." Cody said, happily.

Jojo lets out a little chuckle and he said, "Yeah, that explains the note."

"It was all my idea." Mike said.

Cody scoffs at him by that remark and said, "Uh, I helped too. Besides, we both wrote our names in there."

"Yeah, with cray-who-la."

Jojo made a weird face on that one, thinking that Cody was using some crayons for the drawing and asked, "You used crayons?"

Cody didn't know what to respond to that and he immediately said, "Those were Mike's."

Mike gasped in shock and said, "You lie!"

Jojo rolled his eyes to see their usual brother argument in front of him and he said, "You guys are crazy."

"Well...at least we get to share a locker with you. Besides I need to keep most of my video equipment so I won't lose them...or have someone putting their sticky fingerprints on it." Cody said, then glared at Mike again.

Mike stuck his tongue out at him and Cody just rolled his eyes as he turned to Jojo and then, Jojo asked, "You have a video equipment?"

"Yep. I got a new who-cam for Christmas where I can shoot some videos and maybe some music videos in the future."

Cody puts his camera back on top of his locker and slammed the door as the three of them made their way to the classroom. Just then, they see Jonah, Cyrus, Hawk, Travis and Sam making their way in the hallway and caught up with them. They greeted each other and then Jonah said to Jojo, "Hey, how's it going?"

"Well, I'm sharing a locker with Cody and Mike." Jojo replied.

"Whoa...really?" asked Jonah.

Cody chuckled at this as he scratched his head and said, "Yeah, it's not easy sharing a locker with Mike...so we decided that we'd share Jojo's. It was either me or him, but then Mike would bug me thinking I might take some of his stuff."

"And I still might." Mike said.

Then, as they made their way to the classroom, Jojo and Cody sees Max sitting near the back row of the room and they sat in between them. Cody looks at Max and then he asked, "Got here a little early, huh?"

"Yeah. I was waiting for you guys." Max replied.

"Sure you were."

A few minutes later, in comes the new who; between 15 or 16 years of age, gray and black striped fur, has black hair with some blue and red colors in each fringe with a few on side of his hair almost covering half of his eye, 5'4, 144 pounds, dark blue eyes and wears a green and blue hawaiian shirt with some dark khaki jeans and has a necklace that says 'Brute Strength' in the middle and wears a grey hoodie with his hands on his pockets; coming in to take a seat, trying not to be noticed.

Jojo turns around and sees the same person that he saw on the way to school, surprised that he even goes to the same classroom. He was a little curious to see what he's really like and wanted to know if he needed a friend or something like that.

But just as he's about to talk with him, in comes the teacher coming in the class and he said, "Good morning, students. I trust that we all had an excellent weekend, I'm sure. Now, I've got two things I wanna announce; first off, the talent show is gonna be held back a little bit, so instead of a week from Friday, it'll now be three weeks from now."

All of the students groaned in disappointment for that, but Jojo was a little optimistic about it because it might give him some time to come up with a new song to perform to everyone and Cody said, "Man, I bet something must've come up."

"Yeah, the so-called Friday night 'Support your Jocks' overachiever award. Honoring the best of Whoville High School sporting academics." Jojo replied, sarcastically.

Cody scoffs at that and said, "More like support your gym class boredom overachievers."

Then, the teacher clears his throat and stares at Cody and asked, "Something you'd like to share with us, Mr. McKinney?"

The class glared at Cody for a bit and then replied, "No, sir."

He rolled his eyes and then continued on to say, "Next...we have a new student here."

The teacher looked at the student with the hawaiian shirt on and told him to come up and introduce him to the class and he got up and he went in front of him and the other class and then, he asked, "Would you mind pronouncing that name for me, please?"

The new student got the paper and he said, "Ikaika."

"And can you tell me what it stands for?"

"In Who'aii, it's 'Brute Strength'."

"Ohh...you're gonna have to help me with that. And what do I call you?"

"Brutus Moka."

The teacher then cleared his throat and said, "Well...Mr. Moka, tell us about yourself."

"I'm originally from Who'aii, but we just moved to Whoville about a few days ago. My dad has a certain job as a sports manager at this Whoville sports memorilablia and part bartender in that sports bar as well. I wasn't really sure if I could get used to living here and I really don't have many friends at all, but it's something I'm used to because I've always been the lone person where I'm from. So...I'm sure that it's gonna be no different here." Brutus said.

"Well...I'm sure you'll have plenty of friends here and welcome to Whoville High, Mr. Moka." the teacher said.

Brutus then sat back down in front of the class and Jojo was left a little concerned for the guy and that maybe he'll help him. Cody looked at Jojo and asked, "Think maybe he needs someone like us?"

"I hope so." Jojo replies.

After class, everyone headed for second period and when Brutus made his way through the hallway, he stops to get a drink of water and then...he sees two figures coming in behind him. One yanked him by the collar and dropped him down to the ground and then another one kicks him and shoved him through the wall.

Then, one of them looked over at him and said, "Fresh meat...wonder what we do to them, Hector?"

"We pummel them down, Nate." Hector replied.

"That's right!"

Both of them laughed at him over what he looks like and what he's wearing and Hector said, "Where you from, freak?"

"Who'aii." Brutus replied.

Both Hector and Nate looked at each other and started laughing hysterically at where he's from and he said, "Sounds like someone is a surfer boy. Well, how'd you like to hang ten with our fists?"

Nate balled his fist and he punches Brutus in the face and Hector comes in and throws him through the lockers and began beating him down. All of a sudden, Jojo comes downstairs and to his shock, sees Brutus getting pummeled and beaten up. He shoved both of them both and then, he recognizes their faces as if they knew each other before.

"Nate? Hector? You guys haven't changed, have you?" asked Jojo, angrily.

"Hey, look! If it ain't the Mayor's wimpy emo offspring!" Hector said, howling with laughter.

Jojo fumed at this and he said, "You need to back off of my friend otherwise, I'll tell the rest of my friends and have them do the same thing to you as you tried to do with Stephen!"

"Eh, shut up!" Nate said.

"We do what the hell we wanna do!" Hector exclaimed.

Jojo then went in front of Brutus and he angrily told them, "Mess with him again and you'll be sorry."

Nate scoffed at Jojo and he wasn't gonna back down for anything and he said, "You can't tell us what to do! So why don't ya move out of the way?"

Jojo then spits straight to his face, causing him to grow even more angry than ever and then, the bell inerrupted this 'altercation' and he growled at him and said, "We'll have our time, McFreak!"

Bothof them walked away, staring at Jojo and he stared at them back with an angry expression and as they were gone, he turned to Brutus and from the looks of things, he didn't seem that relieved...but a little confused and also angry. Jojo asked, "You all right?"

"Why'd you do that? They would've killed you!" Brutus snapped.

Jojo exhaled deeply and explained, "I've met these guys before. No one should have to go through that."

Brutus dusted himself off as he stood up and said, "You should've just let them do whatever they wanted to me."

Jojo was very shocked to hear him reject his assistance and he grew very upset about this and he said, "You're lucky that I saved your life!"

"You're wasting your time! I don't need any help from you!"

Brutus walked away a little upset and headed towards his next class and Jojo felt a little bit disturbed to know that he helped the new kid, but didn't give him any thanks of appreciation for that. The fact that Brutus said that he's used to being bullied and having no one there to save him still bothered him and he just walks away and heads to his next class.

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><p>Drama central, huh? Well, this is only the beginng.<p> 


	2. Meeting Brutus Again

There is plenty more of this!

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><p>Chapter 2: Meeting Brutus Again<p>

Later at lunch, Jojo explained everything that happened to everyone and they were all in pure shock and disbelief. Diego was the first one to react on this and he said, "I would've like to met this guy and told him that he had his life saved and the least he should do is just appreciate him for it."

"And that's not the worst part...the bullies were Nate and Hector." Jojo added.

"What?" they all shouted.

Frankie groans in disbelief and in disgust that it was actually them and he said, "They're still bullying around, I see."

"I thought they were suspended." Hoagie added.

Marcus lets out a deep sigh and said, "They were...until their suspension ended early last week due to 'good behavior.'"

Josh scoffed at that and said, "In my opinion, they should've gotten their butts expelled."

"Then they'd be the least of our problems." Max added.

Cody looks at Jojo and then asked, "What was that guy's name again?"

"Brutus." Jojo replied.

Ryan chimed in on this and he asked, "Is he new around here?"

"Yeah, he said he's from Who'aii." Jojo replied.

"Maybe he's misunderstood or something." Zeke said.

Jojo took a deep sigh at this and grew really concerned for Brutus and said, "Yeah, I don't know what his problem is, guys."

Just then, they see Caitlyn and Misty coming over and took their seats as well and Mike was quick to make yet another comment and said, "If it isn't the future princess of weirdness."

Misty laughed sarcastically and she said, "At least I don't dance to a Lady Who-Who song like a little ballerina."

Mike gasped in shock at this and asked, "How'd you know?"

She started giggling and whipped out her Who-phone, pointed on the Who-tube app and sees the video of Mike dancing to 'Bad Romance' from Lady Who-Who like a ballerina with twirls and twists and everyone started laughing at this. Mike was horrified that someone would post something like this on the internet.

She then turned to Cody and said, "You are a video genius."

Mike glared at Cody for posting the video in and said, "Dude..."

"Aw, come on. One of us was bored." Cody added.

Caitlyn looked over at Jojo and she asked, "So what's new?"

Jojo lets out a very heavy sigh and he said, "We have a new kid in school and this guy got bullied by Nate and Hector and I defended him, but didn't seem so appreciative about this."

"You mean the guy with the hawaiian hoodie?" asked Misty.

"Yeah, you know him?"

She nodded her head at that and she said, "Tried to talk to him after class, but he just didn't feel like talking."

"You think he's hiding something?" Dustin asked.

"I wish I knew."

Just then, they see Brutus eating alone in one lone table and Jojo felt really bad to know that this kid might not need his help or even convince him to open up and he said, "I wish I could do something."

And then...Marcus decided to take a chance as he got up and went over to the table and he sat down in front of him and Brutus slowly looks up and sees Marcus for the first time and kept on eating. He said, "Brutus, right?"

"Yeah. Who are you?" asked Brutus.

"Hey, I'm Marcus Swift. I've heard about what happened back at the hallway and I just wanted to know why did you shut my friend out because he was defending you?"

Brutus lets out an annoyed sigh and he said, "That's something I really don't wanna talk about, so let's just leave it at that, okay? You wouldn't understand."

Marcus could definitely see he's putting up a wall against anyone and he could immediately identify with this kid because he did have that new kid in school angsty feeling before and he said, "What do you mean by that?"

"Because when you're the new kid, nobody gives you a chance to get to know you and they would try to take advantage of you and treat you like crap." Brutus responded.

"Kinda like me."

Brutus slowly looked up at Marcus for a second and he said, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I understand what it feels like to not fit in with anybody else when you're the new kid. I used to dread moving from where I came from to Whoville and I put up a wall against myself because I didn't think people would understand me. But after a while...in one summer, one person from Whoville was there and I didn't like him at first because he would never understand me, but later...he grew to be one of my best friends. And I'm still friends with him now." Marcus said.

That kind of story nearly showed a little bit of sympathy for Marcus and he said to him, "Sounds like you figured that out."

"Look, I understand you're a bully victim. I hate going through this status quo crap and I hate pretending to be something I'm not just because of the way I look, talk, the kind of music I listen to. They kinda don't get that because they're too much of a stuck-up jerkhole for understanding who we really are, so don't think that you don't understand what I'm talking about because I've been there. You know what feels like to be rejected, hated and picked on everyday? Like a piece of trash...but I am what I am and that's all that I am."

Brutus lets out a heavy sigh and he looks up at Marcus and he could tell that he knows what he really is saying and he said, "I see your point."

"Yeah. My friend Jojo saved you this morning and maybe you should show him a little appreciation."

Brutus then looks back at the table and sees Jojo sitting there, having lunch and he turned back to Marcus and said, "I don't really know. After what I said to him, I don't think it'll happen."

Marcus lets out a heavy sigh and said, "Just think about it."

He gets up from Brutus' table and made his way back to Jojo's table and then, Mike asked, "How'd it go?"

Marcus took a deep sigh and he said, "I almost got through to him, but I can't quite say I'm getting there yet. But I know that we're all gonna have to do what we have to do in order for him to be there for him."

Hearing this made Jojo feel a little helpless like Brutus would not even give him a chance, but he knows he's gonna do whatever it takes for him to know he's not alone.

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><p>Think Brutus will give the others a chance? On the next chapter, you will see the explosive relationship between Brutus and his dad.<p> 


	3. Dysfunctional Dynamics

Now we get to see what Brutus' home life would be. Warning; this may include violence and a little bit of the 'drink.'

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><p>Chapter 3: Dysfunctional Dynamics<p>

As school was over, everyone of the students at Whoville High left the school and made their way home. When Jojo made his way out of the hallway, he seeks Brutus and hopes that he can make amends and start fresh and when he followed him, Brutus turns around and sees that he's right behind him and all he could do is pretend like he's not here. Jojo looks at him and nervously scratched his head and said, "Maybe we've gotten off on the wrong foot. I'm Jojo McDodd."

Jojo lets out his hand towards Brutus, hoping for a handshake and Brutus looks at him, thinking he's giving him something and he reluctantly shook his hand and then he asked, "Why are you doing this?"

Jojo lets out a heavy sigh and he replied, "I'm hoping that we can like...just start a clean slate, you know. Like get to know each other a little bit."

Brutus stared at him and then he said, "I'm sorry for blowing up at you this morning. I guess I didn't know that someone would actually defend me and I'm usually used to things like that."

That alarmed Jojo to see that he's used to nobody defending him when he gets bullied and he thought that there was something more than that and he asked, "Why do you say that?"

Brutus felt like he wasn't gonna tell him anything because it would result into his fear of being rejected and he said, "I don't think I wanna talk about this, okay? So let's just leave it at that. And by the way, thanks for sticking up for me."

"You're welcome." Jojo said, uneasily.

Brutus walks away and Jojo kinda wanted to know more about Brutus and it feels as if he's hiding something and he was determined to find out what that can be. He thought to himself, 'Is there something in his life that made him feel this way?'

Not long after, in comes Mike and Cody along with Frankie, Manny and Max coming right behind him, just joking and laughing and Mike said, "Hey, J-dawg! How's it going, man?"

Jojo turns around and sees Mike from behind and he said, "Pretty good, I guess."

"Hey, listen. We're gonna head over to our place to play a little Who-Guitar Hero. I'm gonna try to beat Cody's high score." Mike said, in a cocky tone.

Cody groans in exasperation and he said, "Mikey...my score is unbeatable. You know you'll lose anyway."

"Anyway...wanna come along? You can help me beat Cody's score."

Jojo chuckled for a bit and he said, "I guess I'll savor the moment of seeing you get beaten...again."

Cody started laughing hysterically at that comment Jojo made and Mike rolled his eyes at both of them and he said, "Very funny, Jo."

Meanwhile, Brutus walked all the way back to the Fairfax Apartments until he reached 18-M. As he went inside, he immediately went up to his room and did some math homework he had started back at school and completed it in only 20 minutes and then he did his Who-story assignment, which lated for a full 45 minutes and when he was done, he started to strum his Who-Guitar and started playing a little tune.

While he was playing, he was thinking back at his first day of Whoville High School when he got bullied and got an unexpected rescue from someone he didn't even know. He wanted to thank him, but he just felt like he didn't want to because he's endured too much of what he's been through and felt like he would go back to that pain had he decided to let his guard down.

But then, he realized that maybe he did need a friend; someone who would always be there for him, defend him and make him feel like he's not alone...and he felt guilty that he never even gave Jojo a chance and that maybe he might be able to give him a chance.

When he finished playing the guitar, he went downstairs and planned to get himself a snack, but not before a big slam on the door alarmed him from behind. He could sense that it was his father coming in the room and he smell booze in the air, which he could tell because he was drinking a lot. He slowly looked up and there was his dad; mid-40's, brown and black striped fur, 6'1, nearly 200 pounds, dark brown eyes, wearing a big black t-shirt and some blue jeans; lurking in, looking for Brutus.

"BRUTUS!"

That scream completely scared the crap out of Brutus and knew that this was one of his moments when he's mad after having a few too many drinks.

"Where the hell are you?"

Brutus figured that he'd go upstairs to look for him and then, he reluctantly peeked on the couch and all of a sudden, his dad took a quick glance and saw half of his face popping out and then popping back down and he quickly went up to him and he said, "Where have you been?"

His dad's breath reeked of booze and it made Brutus a little bit intimidated towards him and he replied, "I've been home from school."

He glared at him and Brutus backed away from him and his father asked him, "Why have you kept the light on?"

"I-I-I'm sorry, dad. I forgot to shut it off." Brutus quickly said, in fear.

His dad got so pissed that he actually pounded his fist on the wall, leaving Brutus completely shaken by it and his father completely grabbed him by the neck and he said, "You make me wanna puke!"

Brutus didn't know what else to say and then, he threw him across the room in a fit of a drunken rage. So much so, that he grabbed five bottles of beer and for each drink he made, he started throwing empty beer bottles at Brutus, which caused them to shatter anyway. And then he drank one full bottle of Who-quila and he threw it at Brutus' head. He screamed out in pain as shards of glass went on top of his hair and suddenly, as if out of nowhere, his dad grabbed him by the hair, dragged him up the stairs and threw him back downstairs.

Then, he climbed up the railing and slammed on him, beat him down and just shoved him up in the wall and then, he punched, kicked, shoved and scratched him down badly and attempted to choke him, but then he stopped and just pushed him down the stairs saying, "You're a wasteful use of crap...just like your wasteful mother."

Brutus groans in pain and slowly gets himself up with a bloody and beaten face and he told his dad, "It's not my fault."

"My first day of work and already you're causing me problems at home? You're the reason why your mother killed herself because of a wimp like you!" his dad shouted.

"Me? You always blame me for every little thing that isn't a big deal! Why should I have to be blamed for it?" Brutus shouted, in tears.

"Don't you dare blame this on me! You're a worthless, no-good excuse for a son! I wish that you were freakin' dead!"

His father then stormed off back to his room and slammed the door as hard as he could and Brutus could hear his father bellowing out in anger and tore up most of his stuff in his room. That made Brutus more frightened than anything because he had to deal with things like this most of his life. He lets out a heavy sigh as he headed towards the bathroom, cleaning his blood up.

Then, he looked at himself in the mirror and he could see the scratches, beatings and blood all over himself and those hurtful words his father said completely affected him deeply. He lets some tears fall, but they started to sting due to his black eye.

Maybe he does need a friend and that he wishes he had one right now.

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><p>One of the most crucial and most dramatic moments, huh? As you can see, Brutus' dad's anger is a result of 'the drink'...of course it's alcohol. We'll get to a reason why his father is such an abusive butthole to Brutus later on in the story. Until then, AniUniverse is out!<p> 


	4. Trying to Open Up

The drama continues...

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><p>Chapter 4: Trying to Open Up<p>

As the next day comes, Brutus made his way to Whoville High and thinking about what happened yesterday, he wishes that he'd just run away from home and never even come back because of his father's temper and drunken abusive behavior. He lets out a heavy sigh as he tries to calm himself down by listening to his Who-pod as started walking. Little did he know, he was immediately being pummeled by Nate and Hector as they ran past him.

Both boys were laughing at him and Nate said, "Better watch where you're going, shrimp!"

They ran off, still laughing and Brutus was still on the ground, groaning in pain and he tries to get himself up and continue walking on. Just then, Marcus came by with his skateboard and he could see Brutus holding his shoulder and he could tell that something was up. He went over to him and asked, "Are you okay?"

Brutus looked up at Marcus and he replied, "I'm fine. Just...just got shoved."

"By who?"

"Nate and Hector."

Marcus growls at the fact that these two are still causing trouble to innocent people and he said, "These guys make me sick. Why can't they just give us a break?"

Brutus sighed heavily and said, "It's a lot worse from Who'aii."

"Hey, you wanna talk about it while we're on our way to school?"

Brutus was reluctant to talk about this with Marcus as well as walking with him to school, but after the conbversation he had with him at the lunchroom, he felt like maybe he can give Marcus a chance and he said, "Sure."

Both of them continued walking and Brutus explained to him, "They just ran by and shoved me down and then they left, laughing at me."

It made Marcus infuriated to know that these two have not changed a bit since they were suspended and he said, "They always do that."

Brutus looked at Marcus at that comment and he asked, "They do that before?"

Marcus groans in exasperation and he said, "Dude...I could tell you stories. I still remember them bullying most of my friends when they were in group home and harassed most of us. It still pisses me to know that they'll take their stupidity out on someone else who didn't even do anything to people like us, like they can't even accept us because we're not like them."

Brutus sighed heavily at that and he said, "Life sucks, you know?"

"Very hard." Marcus replied.

Then, Marcus sees the black eye and half bloody face Brutus has and he was immediately alarmed by this and asked, "Who did this to your face?"

Brutus very quickly discovers that he was talking about the beaten face his father gave him, but he didn't want to let him know about it and he said, "I might've done it to myself. I was skateboarding yesterday and I hit the ground and the pavement scratched my face. That's what happened."

Marcus didn't really buy that story because it sounded like he was hiding something that he didn't want to know about and he said, "Pavements are hard, aren't they?"

"Yep."

As soon as they got there, Marcus could see little pieces of broken glass around his hair and he knew right there and then that it did not come from the pavement and wanted to find out more.

When Brutus got to the school, he sees Jojo there and he quickly went up to him, but not before he was suddenly slipped by a puddle of water in the hallway and fell down on the ground. Everyone started pointing and laughing at him, making him feel really humiliated and suddenly, Jojo comes over to him and he grabs his hand to help him get up and one of the jocks said, "It's the freak of Whoville helping out the freak!"

Both Jojo and Brutus walked away from them as they dispersed from the crowd and Jojo was seething at those people and he asked, "You all right?"

Brutus sighed heavily and he replied, "Yeah, I guess. I was expected to be made fun and that no one would come to defend me."

"I wouldn't even let that happen." Jojo replied.

Brutus rubbed his hair to get some of the water off of him and then, he looked at Jojo and said, "Thanks again."

"You're welcome."

Brutus didn't know what that feeling is and he wasn't sure how to react to it, but he ignored it as they walked to the first classroom.

Later on, Brutus walked towards the stairs to head to his next class and then, to his shock...he sees someone being beaten up and he wasn't sure what to do; stop this or keep walking. He decided to just stop this and when he got there, he sees that it's Hector and Nate beating up Max and he shouted, "Leave him alone!"

Nate turns around and he sees Brutus standing there and he lets out a chuckle and he said, "Hey, Hector. It's the new freak coming to the old freak's rescue!"

"Mind you business, dude. We have some unfinished business with Max." Nate said, as he punched Max in the face.

As if out of nowhere, he grabbed both boys by the collar and just threw them down and beat them in the face and kicked them in the shin and he yelled out of nowhere, "How would you like it if someone did that to you?"

"We would care less." Nate sneered.

Max tried to escape, but Nate wouldn't let him go as he grabbed him by the ankle and Max was whimpering in fear and as he faced Nate, he begged and pleaded to let him go, but Nate wasn't having it and he said, "Say hello to my fist!"

Suddenly, Brutus kicked Nate's leg and caused him to let go of Max and then he looked at Brutus with a very angry look and both of them walked off. He then looks at Max and sees him crying and he asked, "Why do you let them bully you?"

Max said, in between sobs, "Because...they always...do that to me."

Brutus didn't really know what to do in a situation like this and he sees Max coming in for a hug and he didn't know how to respond to that, but it seems as if he felt something in that hug that he hasn't felt in a long time and just accepted the hug anyway. He looked at Max and said, "I'm sorry they did this to you."

Max nodded his head and then said, "Thanks for defending me. I really appreciate that."

Max walks off and as he was walking, Brutus had that feeling again; like he's done something right to defend his friends and he asked himself, "What is this I'm feeling?"

Later at lunch, Brutus went towards his way and he sees Jojo and the others talking with each other and when he got to their table, he asked, "Can I...join you guys?"

Jojo looks at him and it was like something he never expected to do and he immediately said, "There's always room here."

Brutus then sits down next to Jojo and the rest of them and he introduced them to the rest of his friend. He said, "These are my friends; Mike, Cody, Caitlyn, Misty, Marcus, Jonah, Travis, Sam, Cyrus, Hawk, Stephen, Dustin, Zeke, Diego, Manny, Frankie, Max, Hoagie, Noah, Josh, Seth, Austin, Ryan and Jared."

"Nice to meet you all." Brutus said, a little shy.

Seth chuckled and he said, "Any friend of Jojo is a friend of ours."

Then, Cody looks at Brutus and he said, "Max told me about what you did. That took some courage and guts to stand up to these douchebags."

"Yeah, thanks a lot for defending him." Frankie added.

Brutus did not know how to respond to that because he's never had that many friends before and it made him feel like maybe he's not alone at all. He replied. "I just don't like when people make fun of other people because of the way they are."

"We're in the same boat as you." Zeke added.

Misty looked at him and she asked, "So...how do you like Whoville?"

Brutus lets out a heavy sigh and isn't sure about how will be open up to them about this and he said, "It's growing on me...a little bit. I don't really know yet."

"So...what's it like in Who'aii?" asked Jonah.

Brutus takes a deep breath and said, "It's pretty beautiful there. Lots of sun, sand, beaches and things like that. At school...totally different story because I dealt with bullying and lots of rejection. Most of whom used to be my friends suddenly didn't want to be friends with me anymore and just turned into bullies."

That made the group shocked knowing that his former friends were bullies where he came from and Diego said, "That's brutal."

"I know. So...I just became a loner and I dealt with the fact that I was bullied and that I can't do anything about it and that no one would defend me. I've been used to that since I was 11." Brutus explains.

"Well...ya got friends now." Ryan added, with a smile.

"I hope it lasts because sometimes...the people who were your friends aren't really there anymore." Brutus said.

"As long as we got each other, we will never turn away from each other, no matter what." Jojo said happily.

Soon enough, Brutus started opening up a little bit and it made him think twice about living in Whoville and he just felt that maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all now that he's got friends...but he has yet to tell them about his abusive drunk father because he couldn't handle how they'll react from that.

* * *

><p>Sounds like Brutus is cool with Jojo and his friends now. Read and review please...and while doing that, you can weigh in on what you should do to Nate and Hector and what would you do for Brutus after reading this chapter. Moving on...<p> 


	5. Confessing

And here's where Brutus finally confesses about the abuse from his father to Jojo. The others...well, it'll be on later in the story.

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: Confessing<p>

Later that day, Brutus was home alone, just writing his diary about his day and it was like he had an actual good day throughout because he finally had friends for the first time in his life since he's been in Whoville. He didn't think that things like this would happen as soon as he started Whoville High, but he was glad that it did happen anyway.

Afterwards, he puts his diary up and decided to just go outside and find where Jojo lives and tell him something to get it out of his chest. He knew that it would be hard to tell him about his father, but it was like he couldn't keep it silent any longer. He takes a deep breath and he stepped outside hoping to find where he lives.

He wasn't exactly sure how to tell Jojo about his relationship with his father and he fears that he might be rejected for that, but at this point, he felt as if he had no other choice but to tell him. But he started walking anyway as he made his way to Apartment 12-J and when he got there, he could see the sign on the front door that says 'McDodd's'. He figured that Jojo might live there, so he knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer it.

Then, the door opens and he sees Jonah answering the door and he said, "Hey, Jonah."

Jonah looked surprised to see Brutus coming by and he said, "Hey, Brutus. How's it going?"

"Pretty good, I guess. Is Jojo here?" asked Brutus, nervously.

"Yeah, I'll go get him. Come on in."

Brutus immediately walked into the house and as he looked around, he was surprised just to see how big and spacious it was and there was no words to describe how awesome it looks like from the inside. Just then, Jojo comes downstairs and he didn't expect Brutus to come in the house for the first time and he said, "Hey, Brutus."

Brutus turned around and he saw Jojo standing there and he wasn't sure what to say and he said, "Hey, Jojo. Nice place you got here."

Jojo lets out a slight chuckle and said, "Yeah, if you're stuck with 96 sisters and 6 brothers."

Brutus widened his eyes after he heard that Jojo has 96 sisters and lets out a long whistle and said, "That's a lot of girls."

"I'm the oldest, so..."

Brutus scoffs at that and asked, "How do you look after 96 sisters?"

Jojo rolled his eyes at that and replied, "It's not easy."

Brutus pretty much understood what Jojo had said and then, Jojo asked him, "So...what's up?"

Brutus lets out a long, heavy sigh, turns to him and he said, "There's something...you need to know."

Jojo was immediately thinking that this must be serious, so he told him to come over to his observatory and talk there. Brutus was surprised to know that Jojo has one. As Brutus followed Jojo from behind, he was completely blown away by how he even enters in there with all of his gadgets and thingamabobs just to even come in. As they come through the steps, they enter in this little door and as Brutus walks by, he was awestruck from what it looks like on the inside and he was completely amazed at how everything looks like and he said, "This is the coolest place I've ever seen."

Jojo chuckled softly and he said, "You like?"

"Uh, yeah!" Brutus replied.

"This is where I invent various musical instruments that I made by some random objects and think what if they have styles of sounds and put them all together and make it look supercool? It's also a great place to get away from everything; including my dad." Jojo explains.

"Wow, really?" asked Brutus.

"Yeah. One such invention I have is where I completely helped to save Whoville during the Horton incident. I think had I not have helped, we wouldn't be standing here today."

Brutus was blown away by Jojo's creativity and then Jojo quickly shows him the best part of the observatory; the roof. They climbed up to the top of the roof and Brutus was immediately blown away by the view of Whoville. He chuckled softly and he said, "Now this is supercool...almost as cool as every breathtaking view of Who'aii."

They both sat down and then...Brutus looks at Jojo and tells him, "Anyways, there's something you need to know."

Jojo was all ears and he was willing to listen to Brutus and he said, "You can tell me anything."

Brutus let out a heavy sigh and he knew that subject matter would be completely personal to him, but he felt like he garnered enough loyalty and trust that he can tell him. He takes a deep breath and he said, "Well...when you defended me, I just felt like why would anyone do that for me, like why worry about me? Nobody ever does that and nobody even cares about me and most times, I would just accept the fact that no one would even stick up for me because I'm so different from everyone else. Based on what I wear, what I look, the type of music I listen to...I'm just basically a reject from where I came from. It just happened when I was in 5th grade and it was like things have changed all of a sudden; everyone's older than me, most kids are somewhat mean and they'd bully other people. When it comes to me, I was just too afraid to make friends because everyone around me sees me as a freak, goth, emo and pretty much every name of the book to make me feel worthless. I was used to being lonely all the time and that I didn't need friends to back me up because no one wants to anyway."

Jojo felt his heart bleeding for Brutus' story because he felt like he was alone in his life where no one really understands him at all and treats him like crap. He lets out a deep sigh and didn't really know what to say about that and he said, "I'm sorry. I wish you had told me sooner."

"I just didn't know how. But that's nothing compared to the next story; me and my dad don't really get along much. We hated each other's guts." Brutus added.

"How bad was it?" asked Jojo.

Brutus groaned at the thought of telling it all and he said, "Let's just say...it was very brutal. When I was like four, my mom and dad always argue a lot because of me. Not sure what I did to make them feel this way, but apparently it ended with my mom killing herself because she couldn't stand my dad's abusive behavior and his apparent alcoholism. After she died, things went from bad to worse; his next target of his anger was me. He'd yell at me for every little thing and he makes even the slightest things turn into a big deal which ends up with both of us arguing and things would turn really violent. As I got older, his alcoholic behavior turned worse and he'd get more violent and he would get heavy on cocaine and heroin, which is pretty much the most disturbing combination he's ever done. Even when he has a tough day at work, he'd take his rage on me and it was just...scary."

Jojo was also shocked to realize how bad it'd be and then, Brutus lifts up his shirt and revealed multiple scars and scratches all over his body and also a wound on his shoulder and that made Jojo completely feel sorry for him.

"You just don't know what it feels like having to deal with a dad who does nothing but blame you and make your life a living hell and see him coming home drunk...waiting for you to feel like a piece of crap. You just don't know what it feels like."

Looking at Brutus' eyes, Jojo realized that Brutus wa right...he doesn't know what it feels like to see his own father come home in a drunken, violent rage, taking it out on him. He sees that kind of image playing on his head and he just didn't really know how painful it must feel to have that happen.

"I...I...I just...don't know what to say." Jojo said.

It was one thing for him to hear it from Brutus, but it was another when he actually saw the scars al around him and he could tell that he needed a friend and Brutus told him, "Sometimes I get his explosive temper and just completely go beserk for no reason. But I just don't wanna live that way, you know? I don't want to end up hurting people that I will one day care about."

Jojo sighed heavily and he went up to him and he said, "I'm pretty sure that you'll never hurt us. Most of my friends go through the same thing when families are dysfunctional and we can't deal with things that most parents won't understand about us. We all wish we could find that place, but we can't. It's hard, you know? But as long as you have friends...nothing else matters. All that does matter is that we're there for each other no matter what."

Brutus suddenly felt like crying and he reached out to Jojo and just hugged him. He lets out a few choked sobs and cried in his shoulder. He then whispered, "I'm just happy that I wanted to talk to you."

"I'm here anytime. And if you want to, you can visit me, call me, email me or even Whose-book me." Jojo added.

"Sure thing." Brutus added.

Jojo chuckled softly and said, "And I don't do any of that Twhootering stuff. I really don't want to twhoot on random things."

That made Brutus laugh a little bit that Jojo just made a joke and he said, "I don't have Twhooter anyway, so we're good."

"And you can also find me at the observatory. It's where I go most days, anyway." Jojo added.

"I will."

Both of them looked at the view of the sunset on the roof of the observatory and Brutus felt like he found a real friend; someone who will always be there for him and he was glad he had it...because he would need all the friendship he'll get.

* * *

><p>Jojo definitely knows how to be there for a person, doesn't he? Stick around because there's more of the drama of awesomeness!<p> 


	6. A Father's Rage

Warning; this may contain violence, language and more alcohol. It's rated T for a reason.

* * *

><p>Chapter 6: A Father's Rage<p>

Later that day, Brutus made his way back home and he was hoping for some quiet coming in the house and he hopes that his dad is working a little late and when he entered the house, he quietly crept into the stairs and made his way to his room, but when he got there, he saw his father...looking pissed and ready for a brutal fight. The fear in Brutus' face says it all and his father completely cracked his fist, making it sound more intimidating and it was like something bad is gonna happen.

"Where the hell have you been?" his father asked, in a low, growling tone.

"J-just...out with my new friends." Brutus replied, fearfully.

His dad's reaction boiled over into a full-fledged rage that made him scream at the top of his lungs and then, he beats him down in the face really hard and Brutus was on the ground. He made a small whimper as he tried to get up and get away from him, but his father wasn't gonna let him off that easy and he dragged him into his room with Brutus kicking and screaming, trying to free him, but his dad's grip was much stronger than that as he entered into the room.

His dad shoved him down to the ground and he completely blew up at his son, saying, "Why would you have friends already? Are you embarassed to be around me?"

Brutus didn't want to answer that because he knew that it might lead to more beatings from his father and he only replied, "No, that's not it!"

"What then?"

"Maybe because I needed one!" Brutus exclaimed.

His father stared at him and immediately, he brought out a baseball bat, planning on aiming at his son. He didn't care if he was unstable or maybe even drunk at that point. All he wanted to do is just take his anger out on his only son and with one swing of the bat, he tried to aim at his head, but Brutus quickly dodged and the bat merely aimed at the wall.

"DAMN IT!" his father shouted.

Brutus tried to get away, but the door was locked and he knew that wasn't a good sign at all. When he turned around, he sees his father trying to beat him down and when he aimed at him, Brutus dodged again and he hit the door harder, leaving a simple hole in the door.

"Hold still, you piece of trash!"

Brutus felt like he was trapped with his dad's anger and tried to hit Brutus in every which way possible and he hit him on the back, leg, arms and even on the head. Then, he throws down the bat and he picked him up by the legs and threw him against the wall. Brutus tried his best to get out, but his dad wasnt't finished with him yet. He pulls out a tire iron and he grabbed him by the hair and he just beat the holy freakin' crap out of him, causing him to scream out in pain a million times until he was just beaten and bloody.

Then, he shoved him down to the ground where Brutus started crying and his father soon began irritated by the sound of his son's cries and he slapped him in the face and yelled, "Stop crying!"

His father just completely lost control of his anger and he went and got himself a shot of Who-quila and drank the entire bottle and all Brutus could do is watch helplessly in shock as he sees his father drink and be fueled by more rage. He then turns to his son with a large amount of hate in his eyes and he picked his son up and threw him through the window and he fell down on the ground outside.

Brutus moans in pain when he tried to get up and get away, but he felt something painful on his leg. There was blood coming out of him and he was sure that he was injured. He tried to limp his way to the McDodd house, but before he could even go anywhere, out comes his father, screaming and bellowing and then he bodyslammed him down and choked his son, hoping to lose air.

He grabbed ahold of Brutus' neck, but before he could even plan to suffocate his only son, out comes a very shocked and outraged Diego walking by to see Brutus getting choked and he said, "Let him go!"

His father looked at him and shouted, "You stay out of this! This is my son and I don't give a crap if you are his friend! He's just a worthless piece of trash!"

Diego completely didn't want to see his friend suffer, so he did the unthinkable; he shoved him down the ground as hard as he could and then he takes Brutus away from him. They got away that quickly and when they stopped, both of them were panting heavily and Diego looks up at Brutus and he could see his bloody and beaten face and his leg was completely injured. Diego had no idea that his father would do something like this to him and he said, "We gotta get you some help. Just hold on."

Minutes later, Diego made a huge frantic knock on the McDodd house, hoping that someone would answer and within a few seconds, Sally was the one who answered the door and she asked, "Can I help you?"

Diego panted heavily as he carried Brutus and he said, "Mrs. McDodd? We got a problem."

Suddenly, Sally had a shocked expression on her face as she saw Brutus being beaten, bruised and bloodied and she asked, "Who would do such a thing? Get him inside quickly!"

He went inside the house and then Sally told him, "Set him on the couch."

Diego immediately went over to the living room and puts him down on the couch and as soon as he was gonna head upstairs, Jojo walks down the stairs and he sees Diego standing there and he asked, "Diego, what are you doing here?"

Diego starts panting heavily and he asked, "You guys have any first aid kit?"

"What for?"

"Brutus."

Jojo's heart suddenly stopped and he was shocked to know that Brutus might be hurt and he quickly asked, "Is he okay?"

"See for yourself."

"Where is he?"

"In the living room."

Jojo quickly made his way through the living room and when he got there, he was shocked to see that Brutus was brutally injured. He looks at his mom and he asked, "What's going on?"

Sally made a deep sigh and she replied, "I don't know, but you think you can get a first aid kit?"

"Yeah."

Diego and Jojo made their way upstairs to find the first aid kit and Jojo quickly asked, "What happened to him?"

"I was walking home and then I heard some fighting, screaming and yelling in one house and I was a little skeptical to know what was happening, but just as I was walking out, I saw Brutus being thrown through the window and landed on the ground and his father came and tried to choke him. I had to throw him off so I can get Brutus out of there." Diego explained.

Jojo was completely dumbfounded to know that his father actually did this happen to Brutus and he said, "So that's why he never told me the first time."

"I just found that out for myself too." Diego added.

They continued going to get the first aid kit and when they entered Jojo's parents' bedroom, they could see Ned bandaging his butt, which is the most weirdest thing he could ever do and then, Ned looks up and he sees Jojo and Diego standing there, feeling completely embarassed and disturbed to see this happening. Ned made a nervous chuckle and said, "Hello, boys."

"Dad, what are you doing?" asked Jojo.

Ned groaned in deep pain and said, "Pulled a butt string. Slipped and fell down at the office this afternoon."

"Ooookay...do you have more bandages?"

"Sure thing. What for?" asked Ned.

Ned tosses Jojo an extra set of bandages and also the first aid kit and he replied, "Important emergency."

"Thanks, Mr. McDodd." Diego said.

"Happy to hel-OWW!" Ned exclaimed, as he made another crick in his butt, then groans in deep pain.

"I gotta keep myself still."

Later on, the boys came back with the first aid kit while Sally wrapped around a towel filled with warm water to help clean his wounds up. She gently wrapped the warm towel on Brutus' leg and Brutus winced a little bit and Sally puts a comforting hand on his leg to assure him everything's okay. That was something Brutus never really expected to have happen and it shows that there is compassion there.

"Jojo, you and Diego wrap the bandage around his leg." Sally said.

The boys nodded and Sally puts Brutus' leg on his pillow while Jojo gently wraps the bandage around his leg while Diego lifted his ankle as it's happening. Jojo then asked him, "What was going on?"

Brutus lets out a long sigh and he replied, "I don't know. I came home after your tour of the observatory and my dad looked really pissed at me for some reason, thinking that I shouldn't be friends with anyone because I'm a worthless piece of crap."

"Oh, don't say that." Sally added.

"But it's true! Then, he just tried to hit me with a baseball bat, then he threw me, beat me down, then threw me out of the window and tried to choke me. I felt like I was gonna die at any minute." Brutus said, with tears coming out of his eyes.

Jojo could see that it was obvious why Brutus endured so much abuse from his dad and it left both Diego and Sally so disturbed to hear this and Brutus continued saying, "And he threw a Who-quila bottle staright at me after he was drinking the whole thing. He always gets like this when he's super mad after a lot of drinks."

It made Sally shocked and outraged to know that Brutus' father would turn to alcohol to beat the mess out of Brutus and she said, "You're staying here with us tonight."

"Are you sure?" asked Brutus.

"Now that you told us...we'd be foolish to send you back home to him." Sally added.

Hearing that made Jojo brighten up a little and he said to Brutus, "Don't worry, Brutus. You're safe with us."

Brutus lets out another tear in his face and he said, "Thank you."

* * *

><p>Good thing Jojo and his family and Diego came in to save Brutus when they did. Next chapter, Brutus fesses up his abuse to Jojo's friends.<p> 


	7. Personal Wall Broken Down

And here's where the wall Brutus made breaks down. And he opens up about his father's reason to take his rage on his only son.

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><p>Chapter 7: Personal Wall Broken Down<p>

The next day comes along and Jojo and Brutus made their way to school and Jojo just couldn't shake his head in the manner of Brutus' dad's violent temper and Brutus' injuries were the cause of that. Jojo turned to Brutus and asked, "How you doing?"

Brutus strained a little bit as he was getting around with a crutch and multiple bandages around his leg and arm, he replied, "Fine, I guess."

"You know, I never thought it'd be this bad when you mentioned what you said about your dad to me until I actually saw your injured leg." Jojo added.

Brutus lets out a heavy sigh and he said, "it's okay. Let's just never mention it to anyone, okay?"

"But everyone's gonna wanna find out anyway. With your injured leg and all, it shouldn't be a secret." Jojo explained.

"Look, it's none of their concern but my own. I can't let them know about this."

It made Jojo completely worried that he's building this wall around himself and his injuries fearing that he might be rejected and he wasn't really sure how to respond to that and as soon as they got to the school, no one even noticed his cast around his foot and when they went inside, Brutus made his way into his locker, trying to get a few things about of there...but all of a sudden, someone swiped his crutch, causing him to fall down on the floor and with his cast down on the ground, he screamed in deep pain and then, he looks up to see Nate and Hector up to their tricks.

"What happened to your leg? Did you injure yourself?" asked Nate, mockingly.

Both of them were laughing at him and when Brutus tried his one crutch to get himself up, Hector quickly snatched the other one, causing Brutus to lose balance and fell down again. Both boys were laughing at them and Brutus shouted, "Give those back!"

"You'll have to catch us first!" Hector laughed, hysterically.

Nate slapped him on the shoulder and mockingly said, "Shame on you, Hector! He's got a cast! He can't even walk or run when he's injured."

Hector laughed wickedly and said, "Which makes it easier for us!"

Both of them sprinted off with the crutches, leaving Brutus angry and helpless as he laid down on the floor with his suffering still at large. All of a sudden, Diego walks over and he sees Brutus on the ground and could see that his crutches was gone and he had a sense that someone stole them from him, which made him pissed off and he offered his hand to help him up and he asked, "Who stole those crutches?"

"Nate and Hector."

Diego was fuming that they stole his crutches to take advantage of his injury and then, he said, "Want me to help you get to class?"

"Yeah."

Brutus grabbed a hold of Diego's shoulder and Diego made his way to his first class and when he got there, almost half of the students were in shock to see Brutus in this condition as he made his way to his seat. Jojo looks up at Diego and he said, "Thanks."

"No probs."

Diego walked off the room and planned to get Nate and Hector to give back Brutus' crutches, but luckily for him, they didn't get far because they were using them for no reason and he angrily confronted them and he said, "Give me those crutches!"

Nate scoffed at him and planned to swing it at Diego and asked, "Who's gonna make us?"

Diego went up to them and he grabbed one part of the crutch and snatched it from his grasp and he slammed it on his whohood, causing him to fall down to his knees and whimper in pain. Hector looked at him and sudderened the crutch and Diego retreived them back and he said, "You two are nothing but cold, heartless buttholes!"

A few seconds later, Diego went back to the classroom and gave Brutus his crutches back. He couldn't believe that someone would do something special for him. He looked at Diego and said, "Thanks."

Later at lunch, everyone was completely curious about the cast in Brutus' leg and Misty was the first one to react and asked, "What happened to your leg?"

Brutus took a sigh of exasperation and he said, "That's not important."

"Yeah, it is! Your leg is clearly injured, so something must be up."

Brutus lets out a deep sigh and said, "Look, this is none of your concern, okay?"

"It is my concern!"

"Look, I got into an accident. Let's just leave it at that, all right?" he said, half-annoyed.

Misty felt like she was gonna blow up at him at any moment and she said, "I want the truth and I want it now!"

"Whoa, Misty...calm down before you start to lose your cool." Jonah pleaded.

Brutus felt like he wasn't gonna keep this a secret anymore, so he made an exasperated exhale and looked at Misty and he exclaimed, "My dad injured me! Okay? Last night, I had a fight with my dad and he was fueled by booze and he just took his rage out on me and left me bloody, bruised and injured over me being friends with anyone. At any moment, I would've died and no one would care."

Misty's face immediately softened after hearing this and everyone else was totally shocked and sympathetic towards him after hearing what Brutus said and then, Brutus continued saying, "But it's always been that way and I've been used to it. After my mom died, he got more violent towards me growing up, saying that I'm worthless and that I'm nothing."

"Don't say that you're nothing. You're a someone...someone that needs a good friend." Cyrus added.

"I'm sorry to hear about your mom. How did she die?" asked Frankie.

Brutus lets out a heavy sigh as he let his personal wall crumble down to pieces as he told his story to them. He said, "When I was born, my mom grew attached to me as ever, but my dad sees me as a threat to be away from her so he was drinking...as always and soon after a year, everything started falling apart. They'd get into fights and my dad threatened my mom at one point that if she ever leaves with me, he's gonna completely murder her with a knife. He's made my life a living hell ever since and one night, when I was four, they were arguing about me again and she brought up the word divorce to my dad. He didn't take it well, so he went on a full-on drunken rage, throwing everything at her, beating her until she couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed a gun and then, she went up to my room, kissed me and hugged me tightly, tells me that she loves me and then she took her own life...right in front of my eyes. Years had passed and I was a victim of my dad's abuse when I grew up and being bullied in school made it worse when I was 11. I just felt like I wasn't good enough and that I shouldn't even exist anymore. How much more can I actually take?"

They could see Brutus feeling so broken and it was like nothing they ever saw before and Brutus suddenly broke down crying on the table and Jojo puts his hand on his back and he said, "We're here for you, buddy."

"I'm sorry I had to yell at you like that." Misty said, in a gentle tone.

"I just don't wanna hurt you guys." Brutus said, tearfully.

Mike went up to him and he said, "You're not gonna. What bothers us is that why didn't you tell us before?"

"I was afraid that you guys would reject me." Brutus answered.

Marcus puts his hand on his shoulder and he said, "What kind of friends would reject you after going through something like this. We are willing to help you in any way possible."

The fact that Brutus has friends by his side really made him feel like he can get through anything and it was like he was never alone anymore. He looked at all of them and he said, "Thank you guys so much for being here for me."

"It's what we do. When all's lost, we pick you up when you fall." Diego said, with a smile.

Brutus began to smile and felt like he was meant to have friends. He just didn't expect that to happen so quickly...but he was glad he did.

* * *

><p>Was that awesome or what? Plenty more around the bend!<p> 


	8. Letting Feelings Out

Here's where Brutus lets everything out...and then some.

* * *

><p>Chapter 8: Letting Feelings Out<p>

A few days have gone by and Brutus is still living in fear of his father, enduring more verbal abuse than physical because it left him brutally injured thanks to his father's temper. He sat there in the front yard steps, just thinking so many things over and it's like he endured most of those feelings his whole life because of that. His whole childhood has been filled with many things; verbal, physical and mental abuse because of his father's alcohol issues and his rage was the cause of that.

And another reason why they never got along so much is because his father pressured him into being an athlete, but completely rejects it because he's into playing guitar and piano to get his feelings out. It feels as if he's struggling with trying to open up to anyone else who would listen and would give him a sense of comfort.

With a heavy sigh, he brings forth his guitar and starts strumming a little song he wrote himself prior to moving to Whoville because he felt the same way he felt most of his life...broken.

_I am outside_  
><em>And I've been waiting for the sun<em>  
><em>With my wide eyes<em>  
><em>I've seen worlds that don't belong<em>  
><em>My mouth is dry with words I cannot verbalize<em>  
><em>Tell me why we live like this<em>

_Keep me safe inside_  
><em>Your arms like towers<em>  
><em>Tower over me<em>

_Yeah_  
><em>'Cause we are broken<em>  
><em>What must we do to restore<em>  
><em>Our innocence<em>  
><em>And oh, the promise we adored<em>  
><em>Give us life again<em>  
><em>'Cause we just wanna be whole<em>

_Lock the doors_  
><em>Cause I'd like to capture this voice<em>  
><em>That came to me tonight<em>  
><em>So everyone will have a choice<em>  
><em>And under red lights<em>  
><em>I'll show myself it wasn't forged<em>  
><em>We're at war<em>  
><em>We live like this<em>

_Keep me safe inside_  
><em>Your arms like towers<em>  
><em>Tower over me<em>

_'Cause we are broken_  
><em>What must we do to restore<em>  
><em>Our innocence<em>  
><em>And oh, the promise we adored<em>  
><em>Give us life again<em>  
><em>'Cause we just wanna be whole<em>

_Tower over me_  
><em>Tower over me<em>

_And I'll take the truth at any cost_

_'Cause we are broken_  
><em>What must we do to restore<em>  
><em>Our innocence<em>  
><em>And oh, the promise we adored<em>  
><em>Give us life again<em>  
><em>'Cause we just wanna be whole<em>

He finished it off with a tearful voice and just let some of the tears fall down on his face and suddenly, to his surprise...he sees Jojo standing there in shock and amazement about Brutus' singing. He's never heard him sing nor has he heard him mention it before, but in some ways...he felt like he wasn't the only one.

Brutus looked a little nervous about this and he asked, "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough." Jojo replied.

Jojo steps in the the front yard and Brutus took him inside the house and when they came in, Jojo could see mounds of holes in the walls and the house looked like it was in need of repairs. Then, Jojo said, "Man, this house looks messed up."

"My dad's handiwork." Brutus added.

"He always does that...even if he had a good day at work, he'd just down 12 bottles of what-ka and beer and just turn into a monster and take his anger out on me. Obviously, he still thinks my mom's suicide is my fault."

Jojo turned to him in shock and he asked, "What makes him think that?"

Brutus lets out a heavy sigh and he replied, "Because I was born and obviously, he thought she liked me more than him and he gets really mad at me for favoring her. Even as I look at it now, it still doesn't make any sense."

Jojo could kinda see his point and he couldn't imagine going through something like that and be beaten for it. Brutus then takes Jojo upstairs to his room and he sees it as the most decent room of the house and he said, "Nice room."

"It's the only place I go to whenever I need an escape from everything and where I can just be alone for once." Brutus explained.

Jojo walks by and he sees something interesting there; his songwriting notebook and he asked, "You keep one of those too?"

Brutus was intrigued by Jojo's interest of writing songs and then he asked, "You write songs as well?"

"Yep. I just write about what I go through based on school, life and also trying not to be in my dad's footsteps of being mayor of Whoville. I don't want to be mayor, but I don't wanna tell him because he'll be disappointed in me. You know what that's like?"

Brutus immediately understood the reason why he doesn't want to follow his dad's expectations above his own future for his life and he said, "My dad wants me to be an athlete, like be into sports and I don't want that life. I'd rather be into music rather than being in something like that."

Jojo lets out a heavy sigh as he thought about this and he opened the notebook and he saw pages of lyrics that contain so much angst and powerful amount of personal things that Brutus goes through and he sees one song that got his attention and he starts reding some of the parts.

_Tell me where our time went  
>And if it was time well spent<br>Just don't let me fall asleep  
>Feeling empty again<em>

_Cause I fear I might break_  
><em>and I fear I can't take it<em>  
><em>Tonight I'll lie awake feeling empty<em>

_I can feel the pressure_  
><em>It's getting closer now<em>  
><em>We're better off without you<em>  
><em>I can feel the pressure<em>  
><em>It's getting closer now<em>  
><em>We're better off without you<em>

"That was when me and my dad has this huge spat over me playing the guitar and he thinks something like that is a waste and that I'd rather be into sports than this music chiz, but it's my choice that I can't be an athlete and it was like my therapy to just release this anger out in paper." Brutus explained.

"I can definitely relate to things like this." Jojo said.

Jojo flips over most parts of the notebook and he sees another one that sparked angst and he reads what it wrote.

_I dreamed I was missing_

_You were so scared_

_But no one would listen_

_Cuz no one else cared_

_After my dreaming_

_I woke with this fear_

_What am I leaving_

_When I'm done here?_

_So if you're asking me, I want you to know..._

_When my time comes_

_Forget the wrong that I've done_

_Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed_

_Don't resent me_

_And when you're feeling empty_

_Keep me in your memory_

_Leave out all the rest_

_Leave out all the rest..._

Jojo was blown away by how much angst it brought in and Brutus said, "Wrote it when I was 14 after something I went through back in Who'aii. A neighbor close to my mom has passed away and he was like a pillar of light for me and he died of a cardiac arrest when he was 29. I started thinking what it was like to be dead so young and so quickly."

"Man, you've got so much things open." Jojo said.

"Yep. Whatever I feel in whatever day; sad, anger, frustrated, rejected and all those feelings, I let it out on paper." Brutus said.

Jojo then pulls out his notebook and he gives it to Brutus and he was amazed by what songs Jojo wrote there. He flips through the pages and then, he stops at one and sees something that really stuck with him in a personal level. Then he started reading through the lyrics as if he wrote it himself.

_I walk the line  
>Leave it all behind<br>I've been waiting forever  
>Lets go back in time<br>When I could read your mind  
>Still I've been waiting<em>

_It took the seasons going by_  
><em>To know its not my fault<em>

_I tried to be perfect, tried to be honest_  
><em>Tried to be everything that you ever wanted<em>  
><em>I tried to be stronger, tried to be smarter<em>  
><em>Tried to be everything but you<em>

Brutus was blown away by this and it was something he can definitely relate to and he said, "When did you write this?"

"A year or two. My dad has been constantly been trying to get me into this mayoral thing and it's like my own future doesn't even matter to him. So, I wrote this as a writing vent to release my pent-up frustration." Jojo added.

"Choice."

Brutus keeps going and going and then stops at another song Jojo wrote and he started reading a few lines on the song;

_Everyday is so wonderful_

_Then suddenly...it's hard to breathe_

_Now and then, I get insecure_

_from all the pain_

_I'm so ashamed_

_But I am beautiful_

_No matter what they say_

_Words can't bring me down_

_I am beautiful_

_in every single way_

_Yeah, words can't bring me down_

_So don't you bring me down today..._

That song stuck Brutus to the core, deeply and emotionally, it was like something he can connect with because he knows that feeling of being rejected by every ounce of cliques based on the way he is. He turned to Jojo and he asked, "You wrote this too?"

Jojo scratched the back of his head and he said, "Yeah. It was freshman year in high school and it was the worst first day of my life because some kids there pick on me because of my dad. I barely had any friends, but my mom told me that things will get better soon. It almost helped me, but it wouldn't make those hurt feelings go away so I wrote it for anyone that's going through the same thing I'm going through."

Brutus looked at him misty-eyed and he felt like this was the story of his life and he turned to Jojo and said, "It's like you relate to anyone who's a loner."

"Pretty much. We'd pretty much rather just do music rather than do what everyone else is doing. But when it comes to who we are as individuals, we're just who we are." Jojo said.

Those words made a powerful impression on Brutus and all of a sudden, he hugged Jojo and let some tears fall down from his face and Jojo returned the favor by hugging him back and Brutus whispered, "Thank you for being in my life."

"Anytime. If you need someone to talk to, you can contact me or my friends and we'll all be here for you...that is if Mike tries to answer us back with a late text." Jojo added.

Brutus let out a chuckle and he said, "I will."

* * *

><p>Music is the one way to communicate and let out a lot of feelings. The songs were 'We Are Broken' and 'Pressure' from Paramore, 'Leave out All the Rest from Linkin Park (I am a serious fan of LP), 'Everything You Ever Wanted' from Hawk Nelson and 'Beautiful' from Christina Aguilera. It's better fitting, really. More on the way!<p> 


	9. Friday Night Fun

What's a better way to escape the drama of the world? Having fun!

* * *

><p>Chapter 9: Friday Night Fun<p>

As Friday rolled around, Jojo and the rest of his friends walked across the hallways and they passed through a couple of high school jocks, hooting and cheering as they ran by. It definitely provoked annoyance and distaste for what was happening that day. Cody was the first one to react and asked, "Jocks...do they even have a reason to celebrate?"

Marcus sighed heavily in response and said, "The Support Your Jocks Overachiever Award. Honestly, who really cares about this bullcrap?"

"I'd seriously spend a Friday night just hanging out in my observatory and tinker with my instruments." Jojo added.

Brutus looked a little silent for a while as everyone else is talking. After opening up to Jojo, he wasn't quite sure about everyone else and then, Marcus turns to Brutus and he asked, "What are you doing tonight?"

"Probably nothing." Brutus replied.

"Hey, think you guys can head over to our place tonight to just hang around? We can watch a few movies, blast out to some music and eat some pizza." Mike said.

Everyone was definitely stoked up about this and then Cody asked, "What about you, Brutus? You look like you could use a night of fun with us."

Brutus was a little reluctant about tagging along with them, simply because of his father's temper and his distaste of him having friends, but then he suddenly realized that it might be a good idea to just have some fun for once and stop worrying and he said, "Sure, why not?'

Mike chuckled in surprise about Brutus' response and then he said, "Finally opening up, aren't you?"

"Jojo helped me out."

Jojo lets out a slight chuckle and he said to him, "I can promise you, it'll be the best fun you've had in a long time."

Brutus lets out a smile and he was able to look forward to a night out with his friends and they start laughing with each other as they exited out of the school and for the first time in Brutus' life, it was like everything is gonna be okay.

Later that evening, Brutus makes his way out of the house and he sees Jojo, Jonah, Cyrus, Hawk, Travis, Sam and Stephen walking past Brutus' house and he caught up with them and he said, "Heading to Mike and Cody's?"

"Yep. We'll show you where it is." Jojo replied.

Brutus went behind Jonah, Cyrus and Hawk as they made their way to the McKinney house and when they actually made it, they see Mike outside, looking eager and excited and they definitely gave them a great welcome. He chuckled and said, "Glad you could make it. Mostly everyone just showed up."

Jojo lets out a chuckle as they entered the house and when Brutus set foot there, he couldn't believe the size of the house and it was like walking into a mansion and he didn't know what to say about this and all he could say is, "Wow..."

"Pretty impressive, huh?" asked Mike.

Brutus lets out a small chuckle and replied, "I'll say."

Just then, Cody steps out of the kitchen and he looked very excited to see Brutus there and he said, "Welcome to the Casa of McKinney, BruMo."

Brutus looked a little confused by what Cody said and he asked, "BruMo?"

Cody lets out a soft chuckle and he said, "Whenever I meet new people who are cool with us, I give them pretty cool nicknames. Basically, I combined your first name with your last name, thus calling you BruMo. It was either gonna be B. Moka, MokaBru or B. Mo."

Brutus started chuckling at this and he said, "I like MokaBru the best, simply because I can still have some Who'aiian left in me."

"Awesome! Marcus should be here with some pizza any minute now. So...you wanna head to the theater room?" asked Cody.

"You guys have a theater room?" Brutus asked, in excitement.

Later on, the guys made their way downstairs to the basement and when they entered the theater room, Brutus gasped in shock at how it looked like and it was unlinke anything he's ever seen before. He exhaled deeply and he said, "I think I need a minute to take this all in."

"Bet they didn't have any home theaters like this in Who'aii." Mike said.

"No, not really. There were always movie theaters in malls and they've got like 15 of them in the area I was from." Brutus explained.

"Whoa! Where?" asked Cody.

"Honowho-lu."

Mike chuckled at this and he said, "Maybe you can take us there someday."

Just then, the others came along, including Marcus, carrying 5 boxes of pizza with Diego carrying another five and set them down on the ground. Jonah whistled and he said, "How much pizzas you brought with ya?"

"20." Marcus replied, trying to catch his breath.

Everyone was silent to find out that Marcus brought in 20 pizza boxes, but Marcus started laughing and said, "Just kidding. I brought 10."

"I was gonna say that we were gonna throw up after having a million and something slices." Cody added.

"Very funny, guys."

As everyone got settled in, Mike popped in a scary movie and as the lights dimmed, the movie starts and midway through, they saw two people in bed when they heard a noise and suddenly, the room goes to black and in a night cam, a strange figure comes in to kill the girl who's still awake, trying to find out what's taking her boyfriend so long.

"What is she doing? The killer's right there in front of her!" Austin exclaimed.

"How can she not see it?" asked Zeke.

And then, the strange figure vanished after making a creaking sound, which caused her to turn around and saw that there was nothing and sat down on the edge of the bed, hoping that she was seeing things.

Seth, Ryan, Dustin, Jared, Austin and Frankie were a little eager to see what was gonna happen next and Dustin looked over to see the creep's hands slowly coming under her bed and he let out a silent gasp and he said, "Did you guys saw those hands?"

"Dude, who didn't? She shouldn't even be sitting there!" Ryan added.

Suddenly, the boys leaped in fright when the killer's hand grabbed her ankles and when she tried to break free, the killer then dragged her under the bed with the girl still screaming. All of the boys were completely petrified of the scene and Jonah asked, "Where's the boyfriend?"

"Probably still finding the killer. Maybe he should've heard her scream by now." Jojo answered.

Just then, the boyfriend comes back and finds her gone. He frantically tried to find her, but she couldn't be seen, causing him to go into a panic mode while still holding on to his baseball bat. Suddenly, he looks under the bed, sticks his hand under there and suddenly, he gets caught by the killer, causing the boys to exclaim in fear as they see the scene where the killer consumes his hand.

All the boys groaned in disgust as they saw this happening and Josh asked, "Where'd you guys get this movie?"

"Diego got it at What-Mart for Halloween after he saw the movie in March. If you guys think that's scary, wait until you see the director's cut." Cody replied.

"Yeah, it's got 42 minutes of awesome bonus stuff that didn't even make the final cut." Diego said, chuckling mischeviously.

"I'll be looking forward to that." Sam added, sarcastically.

Brutus was excited about the whole thing and he said, "That was the best scary movie I've seen in a long time."

"I know, right? So...wanna jam out to some tunes?" asked Cody.

"YEAH!" everyone exclaimed.

When they got to the music room, they played some rock tunes and they were all jamming into it and had a great time dancing and playing their instruments in there. Suddenly, there was strobe lights blinking all over the place and Brutus brought out his glow-in-the-dark sticks and yo-yo's and decided to show them some of his amazing fancy tricks, which impressed all of them.

Cody was surprised to see how he managed to do that and he said, "Where'd you learn how to do these things?"

"One summer in Honowho-lu when I was home alone that I started to do something like this after seeing someone doing a little rave glow in the dark party lights on WhoTube. I may not be old enough to go to raves, but I got the hang of it as I practiced." Brutus explained.

"You have to teach us those things someday." Hoagie said, excitedly.

"So...what are you gonna do for the talent show in 2 weeks?" asked Dustin.

Just then, Brutus broke out his who-kelele and decided to strum a little song, which caught everyone's attention and Cyrus asked, "What's that?"

"An old who'aiian instrument; a who-kelele. I'm just gonna play you guys a little song that I wrote while I had a hard time dealing with so much bullying in my life.

With that, he strums his ukelele while Jojo, Marcus, Cody and Mike brought in the guitars and played behind Brutus as he began to sing.

_Maybe, I'm just not good enough for you_  
><em>And maybe, i just don't wanna be like you<em>  
><em>And maybe I just don't wanna know<em>  
><em>How low you're ready to go<em>  
><em>I'm not gonna change, you can't make me, WHOA<em>

_[Chorus]_  
><em>You don't, You don't, You don't, You don't<em>  
><em>You don't mean anything to me [x2]<em>  
><em>You're what I never wanna be<em>

_Tell me, does it feel good to be like you_  
><em>And tell me, why should I waste my time with you<em>  
><em>Cuz maybe you always bring me down<em>  
><em>And I'm sick of being pushed around<em>  
><em>I'm not gonna change, you can't make me, WHOA<em>

_You don't, You don't, You don't, You don't_  
><em>You don't mean anything to me [x2]<em>  
><em>You're what I never wanna be<em>

_I know you think you know me_  
><em>You don't know anything<em>  
><em>I know you wanna help me<em>  
><em>I don't need anything<em>  
><em>Don't tell me where to go<em>  
><em>I don't need you to know<em>

_You don't, you don't, you dont, you don't_  
><em>You don't mean anything to me<em>  
><em>You don't you dont, you don't, you don't<em>  
><em>You don't me anything to me<em>

Everyone cheered for Brutus after the song was finished and Brutus definitely felt like he's got all the friends he needed and Marcus looked at him with an impressed look on his face and he asked, "When did you write this?"

"Like in seventh grade, I guess. It was not only about dealing with bullying, but also dealing with my dad's abuse. It's like he doesn't mean anything to me at all because of the way I am and that I shoudln't even exist anymore." Brutus replied, in a sad tone.

All of them felt so sympathetic towards Brutus and they all felt like that song connects to everyone in particular, including Marcus. He puts his hand on his shoulder and gives him a huge hug for support and comfort. He then told him, "That's his problem. He just doesn't understand anything. I never met the guy, but if I did...I'd just tell him to shove off and that we're gonna be the ones to protect him no matter what."

"Yeah, you got us and we're always here for each other because no one in our school accepts us for who we are. Those stupid cliques can make and break us, but they'll never break this friendship apart." Travis added.

HEaring those words made Brutus feel like he can rely on them for support when he needs it most and he said, "Thanks, guys."

"Anytime." Marcus said.

"So...you guys wanna see the director's cut now?" asked Diego.

Everyone headed back to the theater room and they watched the director's cut for a while and after a few hours, most of them were asleep on the theater room. Cody was on top of Mike while Marcus was asleep next to Jojo and almost everyone was a little sleepy. Mike woke up and sees Cody on top of his head and he gets himself up, unaware that Cody's grabbing onto him and he shoves him on the floor, waking him up.

Jojo yawned as he opened his eyes and he looks around and sees everyone getting up and he asked, "How long have we been asleep?"

"I have no idea." Marcus replied.

Brutus woke up as well and scratched his back and asked, "What time is it?"

Cody looked at his watch and replied, "11:45."

All of them were alarmed that they were out this late and everyone realized that it was past their curfews and Marcus said, "Man, I gotta get back before my folks realize that I'm still out."

"I'm with you." Josh added.

Everyone thanked Mike and Cody for inviting them to their home to hang out as they made their way out and Brutus walked out of the room and then, he looked back and he said, "Thanks for everything. I had a lot of fun."

Cody chuckled and said, "I'm really glad. Our place is open anytime."

Everyone made their way home and when Jojo and Brutus said bye to each other, Brutus felt like there are good things coming...and he hopes that it'll stay that way because of the tumultuous relationship with his dad, he's gonna need any ounce of support he can get.

* * *

><p>Coolio, huh? The song is 'You Don't Mean Anything' from Simple Plan. The Canadian band knows deep true angst to connect to us! Hope ya like!<p> 


	10. Cousin?

Here is a crazy twist for this chapter. This will surprise vampire1031, lightfaith0606 and whozonegirl...but mostly vampire 1031.

* * *

><p>Chapter 10: Cousin?<p>

Monday rolls around again and soon enough, Jojo, Stephen, Jonah, Cyrus, Hawk, Sam and Travis walked their way to Whoville High and they were just dreading about another week of school and how the weekend ended so quickly. Soon enough, they see Brutus coming in from behind and he joined them as they went walking to school.

"How's it going, guys?" asked Brutus.

Jojo sighed deeply and replied, "Pretty good, I guess. I just wished the weekend went a little longer instead of Monday."

Jonah groans in agreement and he said, "Yeah, I had a dream that the weekend was over and it was Monday every day and I was dreading it with passion."

"Jonah, today is Monday." Cyrus added.

"That's why I'm dreading it."

"We all dread Mondays. Like going back to school and deal with another week of nonstop rejection." Jojo added.

"So, Brutus...you doing okay?" asked Stephen.

Brutus lets out a heavy sigh and he replied, "I guess so."

Jojo could sense that there was something up with him over the weekend and he asked, "Another spat with your dad?"

"What do ya think? He was so pissed at me for hanging out with you guys, he just deliberately tore the entire house up and I ended up hiding in the downstairs closet, which he broke through and just nearly choked me. I thought I was gonna die for a minute." Brutus explained.

Then, he shows them the scars on his neck and it was enough to tick some of them off, but Jojo was the one that was the most pissed off to hear. It was like Brutus' dad's violent drunken abuse just wouldn't stop and he said, "How the hell do you put up with someone like him?"

"He's got some attachment like he wants to beat the crap out of me, but doesn't want me to leave him behind." Brutus said.

Jonah groans in disgust after hearing that situation, simply because of a similar dysfunctional environment with him and his father's constant violent temper and he said, "I think maybe he wants to torture you the same way he did to his mother for you to stay with him because he has nothing left."

Brutus took a quick glare at Jonah for that reassuring answer and he asked, "How do you know about this?"

"Our dad was the same way before we got adopted in the McDodd house. He was violent, hostile and very unstable." Jonah answered.

"My dad was on a heroin/booze infueled rage when he got angry with me, so much so that he just basically tied me up on a chair and started throwing stuff at me...for 45 minutes."

Hearing this made Jojo disgusted and it was like Brutus' dad didn't care if he was hurt or anything and he just said, "I think we need to get you away from him."

"How? He said that I ever leave him again, he's gonna douse my body on gasoline and engulf me in flames."

That thought trigger more disturbing thoughts in their heads and figures that if they did bring him out, Brutus' dad would bring violent harm to them. Jojo lets out a big sigh and he said, "Well, we gotta do something."

"You can't live in fear forever, you know. All you need is someone to get out of this situation and that he'll never harm you again." Travis said.

When they got to the school, they see Mike, Cody and Marcus walking through the hallways, just talking and joking around about the director's cut of the horror movie they all saw and Jojo caught up to them and Mike was the first one to react and say, "J-dawg! What up, dude?"

"Not much. Just another week of dealing with ultimate boredom of school." Jojo replied.

"Yeah, I'm with you on that." Cody added.

All of a sudden, as if out of nowhere, silly string was aimed at all of them and no surprise...it was Nate and Hector, just laughing it out and Nate said, "You guys look disgusting, like you're covered in snot and cobwebs."

Then, Hector sprays them some more as they ran off, high-fiving each other. The boys cleaned each other up and set the silly string to the trash and Marcus lets out an infuriated groan of exasperation and said, "Don't these guys have anything better to do besides make our lives a living hell?"

"Unfortunately, it's what they're best at." Stephen said.

As soon as they went to class, Jojo spots two familiar whos sitting on the back room of the seat. He looked up and he sees his two friends; Koa and Mana. He smiled at them and he said, "Hey, what's up, guys?"

"Jojo, it's great to see you." Koa said, smiling.

Koa gets up and he gives out a friendly hug and then, Mana does the same thing as well and Jojo asked, "How have you guys been?"

"Doing fine. We just came back after a little vacation in Who'aii." Mana answered.

"Well, it's great to see you guys again." Jojo said.

Then, Brutus comes in from behind and Jojo throught that he would introduce him to them and he said, "Hey, guys. This is my new friend, Brutus Moka. Brutus, these are my friends, Koa and Mana."

"Hey, nice to meet you guys." Brutus said.

Mana looks up for a minute and he was familiar with his hair and face and it was like they knew each other already and he asked, "Ikaika?"

"Yeah, that's me." Brutus replied.

"Hey, he does look familiar." Koa said, observing him.

Jojo wanted to find out what was going on and why they know him and he asked, "You guys know each other?"

"Yeah, he's our cousin." Mana added.

Jojo twitched his eye after he received the news from Koa and Mana and even Brutus was shocked as well that he was related to them.

"C-C-Cousin?" asked Brutus.

"WHAT?" the group asked.

At lunch, Jojo told them, "It shocked me to the core to find out that Koa and Mana are related to him all this time."

Mike was the first one to react in shock after this and he said, "Why didn't you tell us before?"

Brutus was a little flabbergasted to hear this and he said, "I just found out today. I really didn't know that before."

Just then, Koa and Mana went headed towards the table and Koa sees everyone there and he waved to them and he said, "I guess you all already found out. Well, Brutus' dad was our dad's younger brother."

It shocked all of them to know that Brutus' dad was related to Koa and Mana's abusive dad and Marcus said, "Violent tempers are like a family tradition, huh?"

"Yeah, we really don't know about that. But both of our dads are mound on alcohol and drugs and they would often get really angry and mad over the smallest things and it would sometimes lead to something really destructing." Mana added.

Jojo was shocked to learn something from that coming from Koa and Mana and he looks at Brutus and he said, "I hope that you escape from your dad and be around a family that cares for you and are willing to do anything for you."

Marcus immediately thought about taking him in with his family, but is unsure how will he react to that and he only said, "I really wish I could help."

Then, a light bulb emitted on Jojo's head and he said, "Marcus...maybe you can take Brutus in."

Marcus kept silent about this and he only said, "I'm not really sure."

Koa then told him, "You don't have to. Me and Mana will take him in. We're basically living on our own now because our dad was unfit to care for us."

It really dawned on the fact that Koa and Mana are alone now and Jojo really needed to help them out in any way they can and he said, "We'll think of something."

* * *

><p>Koa and Mana are owned by vampire1031, BTW. Hope ya like it. And there's more!<p> 


	11. Enough is Enough

And this is definitely the most craziest scenes I think I may have typed up. Let me know what you think.

* * *

><p>Chapter 11: Enough is Enough<p>

Later on in the day, Jojo alked past Brutus' house and he could immediately hear sounds of fighting going on in the house and he wanted to see what's happening there. He could've stepped out of this, but when it comes to Brutus, he's not gonna stand there and watch him suffer. So he walks up to the house, opens the door and he slowly walks in the living room and then, he hears some screaming coming upstairs and Jojo was quick to run up and then, in a disturbing sight...he sees the violence happening for the first time.

Jojo sees Brutus getting beaten the crap out of with a tire iron, beating him to a bloody pulp. Then, he looks over and sees his dad getting all violent and intoxicated. Then, he sits back down, snorts out another round of cocaine and shoots himself with quadruple shots of heroin, leaving Brutus completely scared about what might happen if it gets worse.

He tries to get out of the room, but not before his dad throws a bottle of beer almost at his face, but hit the wall. He shouted, "Where do you think you're going?"

Brutus was shaken to the core and he said, "I don't want to see you taking drugs."

"Who says I'm taking drugs? It helps me!" his dad shouted.

Jojo was standing there appalled to hear that Brutus' dad's drug use helps him and he thought to himself, 'Help him with what, killing Brutus to death?'

Then, his dad stands up, went directly at his face, drags him by the arm and flips him all around the room and slammed his body into a wall. Not only 5 minutes in and already Jojo couldn't take this anymore. He just burst through the door and he shouted, "Leave Brutus alone!"

Brutus looks up and he sees Jojo standing there and he whispered, "Jojo..."

The dad looks up at him with fits of rage and he asked, "Who the hell are you, punk?"

Jojo wasn't scared of him one bit and he said, "I'm Jojo and that's my friend you're trying to kill!"

Brutus' dad looked at him with a slight chuckle of disbelief that Brutus could actually have a friend and he said, "You? You? Him?"

Then, he drops Brutus down to the ground, went over to him and he said, in a menacing tone, "You have no business intruding in our house, so you need to get out!"

"I'll leave...along with Brutus." Jojo added.

The dad growled at him and he said, "You wanna be burned to pieces, kid? Get lost!"

"Why are you being such a raging lunatic to your own son?" asked Jojo.

The dad couldn't stand to see Jojo defending his son and he said, "Because of his mom! I was glad that she was dead because she meant nothing to me! Obviously, he loves her rather than me and it was because of him that drove my wife away from me! I wanted to do everything I can to make sure she stays with me, but she spends more time with him than me and when she shot herself, it was like time had stopped...and I blamed Brutus for everything...for the last 14 freakin' years!"

Jojo was concerned for Brutus' safety and he said, "That's no excuse to harm your own son. You both gave him life and you're trying to destroy it? What kind of a father are you?"

The dad reached his breaking point and he said, "Brutus stays! I don't care if I kill him, he stays with me!"

Brutus couldn't take this anymore and he stood up and said, "No!"

The dad looked back at Brutus, looking mad as heck and he walked up to him and asked, "What did you say?"

Brutus looked very mad and filled with extreme rage, but in a complete opposite way of his dad and he said, "For years, I've had to put up with your constant blaming and hatred towards me...but I will not stand here and take any more of your crap!"

"What does that supposed to mean?"

Brutus looked up at Jojo and with an approving nod, Brutus said, "You don't have to worry about me...because I'm leaving this house."

When Brutus walked off, the dad looked very disturbed and filled with more rage after what he heard from him and he drank four bottles of beer and with each bottle he drank, he throws it towards both Jojo and Brutus, screaming in a huge rage. Both boys ran from downstairs while the dad follows them with a gun and a knife to kill both of them.

Brutus' dad throws the knife directly to Brutus, but instead, he missed and only stuck it to a wall. He bellows loudly as they escaped through the back door and just made a run for it. Jojo then texts most of his friends for back-up and after this, they both ran off of the house, but not before Brutus' dad comes out with a gun and tries to shoot it at them.

"Come back here! You're gonna wish you never even lived!" Brutus' dad shouts.

Suddenly, Brutus comes back and this time...he punches his dad in the face and kicks him down to the ground. The dad beats him down and tries to put a knife to his neck, as if he wants to slit his throat out.

"Let him go!" Jojo shouted.

The dad just shoves him down to the ground and just kicks him in the nuts as hard and he said, "That's for being friends with my son!"

Jojo groans in pain and Brutus tries to help him, but his dad grabbed him by the legs and just decided to end his life until...

"Leave him alone!"

He looks up and he sees most of Jojo's friends coming out to end this madness, including Koa and Mana and it seems like it was gonna be a heck of a fight.

* * *

><p>Part 2 of the action is coming up in the next chapter! I promise you...it will not disappoint.<p> 


	12. Enough is Enough: pt 2

Part 2 of the confrontation scene!

* * *

><p>Chapter 12: Enough is Enough, pt. 2<p>

Jojo and Brutus sees Cody, Mike, Marcus, Zeke, Dustin, Diego, Jonah, Cyrus, Hawk, Travis, Sam, Stephen, Manny, Hoagie, Josh, Frankie, Max, Noah, Seth, Austin, Ryan and Jared standing there all looking pissed at the sight of Brutus' abusive father trying to kill both Jojo and Brutus and Koa went up to him and said, "Uncle Jacob...long time, no see."

Jacob looked up at Koa in a look of fury and hate combined when he stood up and he said, "Koa and Mana..."

They didn't even bother responding back and they let their eyes do the talking and then, he shoves both of them down to the ground and that didn't sit well with the gang and Marcus said, "That was uncalled for!"

"Shut up!" Jacob yelled, pointing a finger at him.

Marcus didn't seem too intimidated by his violent outburst and he stood his ground to make sure that Brutus isn't gonna stick around with him any longer. He then looks up at Brutus and he said, "You all right, Bru?"

Brutus groans heavily as he tried to stand up and he replied, "Yeah, I'm okay."

Jojo then stands up as well and he said, "Brutus isn't gonna stick around here getting beaten up by you."

Jacob looked completely disturbed with the fact that they know about his violent temper and drunken rage and as he looked at everyone else, they can tell that they already figured that out on their own. He slowly looks down to Brutus and he asked, "You told them?"

Brutus stared at his dad and he replied, "Yes, I did."

His rage fired up in the inth degree level as he slapped him in the face and whacked him in the back with his fist as he fell down to the ground and he yelled, "You're not supposed to tell them about it!"

"Don't blame him for doing the right thing!" Cody yells out.

"Yeah, he only told Jojo before he told us!" Travis added.

Then, he stared at Jojo and he completely beat him in the face with a baseball bat, causing him to fall down and then landed another blow to his back and he said, "These are for two things; my son telling you about our business and for your parents...for taking him in!"

Jojo groans out in pain as he tried to get up and he said, "At least they have a heart."

"What kind of father are you? Just because your wife loved him you get to blame him for her death? That's what mothers do! You brought him into this world and you plan to hurt him until he dies?" asked Mana, in a fit of anger.

Jacob lets out a low growl and then he responded, "He deserved it...for losing my wife. I tried desperately to keep her from leaving me with him and I felt like she prefers him over me and I thought to myself if I can't have her, nobody will. That night...when she told me she wanted to file a divorce, I felt like my world was crumbling apart and it was because of Brutus that caused all this! So before she could even plan to actually do it, I got so drunk and mad...I wanted to end her life right there and then, so I choked her, beaten her, slammed her, threw her across the room and before I would even kill her at knifepoint, she went upstairs and kissed Brutus on the forehead and then proceeded her way to the bathroom where she killed herself with my gun! I definitely had a huge amount of hatred for my son and it progressed for years and years of hate. I wanted to end his life so many times, but to not avail. When he got older, he became different and he wanted to try this music thing and I was dead set against it. I wanted him to feel the same way I felt when my wife died...like life isn't worth living."

Brutus looked at his dad completely disturbed by what the cause of this and he said, "You've became a burden to me for thinking it was my fault for even making her die. You're just a monster...a monster I had to put up with for 14 years and I'm surrounded by real friends...who care about me, are there for me and would always be there for me! You never did any of these things because you were busy drinking and doing drugs, which is the reason for putting up with your abuse!"

Jacob punched him in the face and he threw him through the road and planned to kill him right there and then until...

He gets pummeled by Ned, who just witnessed the entire thing from near his house and Ned looked completely livid in a fit of seething rage about him abusing Brutus. He said, "So you're the one that caused the injury to your son's leg?"

Jacob shoved him down on the ground, which made Jojo outraged because even though he still considers a pain in the neck, he still loves his father. Jacob then went on to say, "So what if it was me? Your son should stay away from my son!"

Ned gets himself up and he said, in an angry tone, "Now see here! Brutus told me and my wife everything and I'm pretty sure that you had no right to treat him the way you did to him!"

"Take your butt back to city hall!" Jacob spat back.

"Hey! You don't talk to my dad like that!" Jojo yelled.

Jacob then turned back to Jojo and he angrily went up to him and said, "Who the hell do you think you're talking to?"

Koa pushed him down to the ground and Mana punched him in the face, making his rage go off and he grabbed both of them and beat the crap out of them and Jojo bites Jacob's hand, causing him to release both Mana and Koa and then, Ned quickly goes up to Brutus and tells him to head to his house.

Jacob screamed out in a fit of rage and he decided to take his fury out of all of the kids so he brought out his knife and decided to kill all of them and finish off Brutus and as they took off, all the kids weren't shy about fighting back. Marcus, Jojo and Diego beat him down by their knuckles while Koa, Mana, Cody and Mike bodyslammed him down to the ground. Jonah and his brothers, along with Stephen got chased by Jacob, but he was totally distracted when Frankie and Max threw paintballs at him.

Jacob became outraged that he's gonna be outsmarted by a couple of teenagers and wanted to end this now, so he went back to the house, took a shot of beer and threw every beer bottle at them, but they missed his aim. He snarls in frustration as he took off running to the McDodd house to bust the door down, but he was taken down by three girls.

He looks up and he sees each girl stopping him at their sights. They wasted no time fighting back and punching the crap out of him.

"Hey, I'm Lehua and these are my friends, Pam and Mari. We heard about what you did with Koa and Mana's cousin Brutus and that you wanted to end his life. Well, forget it! You're gonna have to go through us!"

Jacob cracked his knuckles and he looked at them in fitting rage and he said, "if you don't get out of my way..."

"You'll what?" asked Mari.

Pam brought out some pepper spray and she immediately sprayed Jacob in the face, causing him to scream incoherently and Lehua went and punched him in the face and when he fell down to the ground, Mari kicked him in the guts. She said, "That's for attempting to threaten us!"

The girls immediately went into the house and when they got to Jojo's room, they see Brutus for the first time and Brutus didn't know how to comprehend with all of this and Mari said, "So, you're Brutus?"

"Yeah." Brutus replied, in a shaky tone.

Lehua immediately went up to him and gave him a huge hug and she said, "Don't worry. Your father won't harm you anymore. You're safe with us."

"How'd you guys know?" asked Brutus.

"We got a text from Koa and Mana and when we found about this, we were enraged to see that you had to deal with an alcoholic abusive douchebag of a father." Pam added.

Just then, they heard footsteps coming in the room and they thought that it might be Jacob and the girls were prepared to fight back and when someone came in the room, they were in relief that it was only Koa and Mana coming inside. Lehua went up to them and said, "Thank goodness it's you guys."

"Yeah, it's a good thing you guys came when you did." Mana added.

"What are friends for?" asked Mari.

Meanwhile, Jacob woke up, lying in the ground and he was ready to exact revenge on Brutus and he went inside the house, still holding his knife and as he went up the stairs, he definitely was about to make more misery to Brutus and as he went into Jojo's room, everyone looked up in horror to see that he was still here for Brutus.

"Brutus...I'm gonna do what I should've done on the day you were even born!" Jacob screamed.

He grabbed him by the arm, causing Koa, Mana, Lehua, Mari and Pam to protest against this and then Jacob raised his knife and planned to stab him in the back, but Marcus came out of nowhere and just beat him down and they tumbled down the stairs and Jacob wanted to kill him dead, but Marcus wouldn't have it, so he punched him in the face and threw him out of the house and into the street.

They all cheered for him and Brutus went outside and brought his baseball bat and just whacked him on the head several times. He panted heavily as he looked at him and he said, "How do you like it...dad?"

He walks away and then, Jacob was still planning on killing Brutus so he got his knife to stab him in the back, but just as he was gonna do that...

He was shot several times with a shotgun and then he fell down on the ground, lifeless. All the kids were completely bombarded by this, but Brutus sees this as a way of saying that he deserved it. They turned around and saw that it was Ned with the gun. He panted heavily and then looked back at everyone else and said, "You kids okay?"

"We're fine, Mr. McDodd. Thanks." Marcus replied.

Jojo then comes towards his dad and he said, "Way to go, dad."

Ned then wrapped his arms around Jojo as he hugged him tightly after all of this drama and then Jojo asked, "How did you know about Brutus being beaten by his dad, anyway?"

"I saw his dad come in at some mexican bar and grill and it seems like he had a bit too much to drink and he made huge rage over a $20 bill and just beat the crap out of the bartender. Also, I overheard the conversation about Brutus in the living room when you and Diego took him to our house with a broken leg." Ned explained.

"It's a good thing you kept us from harm." Jojo said.

Ned went back inside the house and Jojo walks by and sees Koa, Mana, Lehua, Pam and Mari standing there and he looked at them with a smile and said, "You guys never cease to amaze me."

"Who wouldn't?" asked Lehua.

Brutus then looks at all of them and for the first time, he was smiling at them and he felt completely lucky that this whole suffering reached its end and he was gonna move forward with his life. He went up to all of them and said, "Thank you, guys. For everything."

"You're a good friend, Brutus...and we never turn a friend away when they're in disarray." Jojo said.

All of them came in for a group hug and it was like a friendship has been formed and will never be broken for as long as they live.

* * *

><p>Koa and Mana are owned by vampire1031, Lehua and Pam are owned by whozonegirl (Sorry if I forgot to add Vienna in there) and Mari is owned by lightfaith0606. More on the way!<p> 


	13. Standing Up to Nate and Hector

Now the bullies...well, they'll get what's coming to them.

* * *

><p>Chapter 13: Standing Up to Nate and Hector<p>

The next day at school, everyone headed back to Whoville High where they all talked about yesterday and with Brutus by their side, it was like they can get through most of everything. But as they went inside, Nate and hector decided to torment Brutus by throwing paintballs at him and also throwing water balloons at Max and the rest of the clan. Both boys were laughing hysterically and high-fiving each other and Hector went on to say, "Guess some guys can't hold up their water!"

Brutus was furious to take much more of their immaure abuse anymore and he went up to them and he asked, "Is that all you love to do, make out lives miserable?"

"Yeah, so?" asked Nate, bluntly.

"When are you gonna realize that it's uncool for you to treat us like we're nothing?" asked Brutus, in an angry tone.

"Because you are nothing!"

All of a sudden, Koa and Mana went towards the two of them and Koa was the first one to react in anger and said, "You think bullying us makes you cool? Cool enough for you to make someone else's life miserable to the point where they can just commit suicide? I strongly disagree with that because it's not cool, it's hurtful and it'll definitely kill them."

"Who cares?" asked Hector.

Mana scoffed at them and he said, "You guys...are not cool! You're lame!"

Hector pushed Mana to the ground and he angrily said, "You're the ones who are lame! You need to learn some respect!"

Lehua started laughing and scoffing at both of them when they heard 'respect' coming out of their mouths because they never gave out any of it and she said, "That's ironic...because you don't respect us and pretty much the whole school."

"Hey, missy. Wanna be my girlfriend?" asked Nate, in a flirtacious tone, then proceeds to slap her behind.

That didn't sit well with her and she slapped him in the face and said, "Never in a million years, you disgusting perv!"

Soon enough, all of them rallied in to tell Nate and Hector off and Diego was the first one to come in and he said, "Let's make it simple...you guys just leave us all alone and get lost."

Nate shoved Diego down to the ground and he said, "You can't make us. We're bigger than you."

"But your brains are smaller." Mari added.

Hector grabbed her by the shirt and he yelled, "Take it back!"

Pam kicked him in the nuts and grew increasingly ticked at them and she said, "You leave my friend alone!"

All of them fought Hector and Nate off, but the troublemaking twosomes weren't gonna go down without a fight and proceeded to beat them up. When they got outside, the fight continued to ensue and Nate was blowing punches at Max, Brutus, Koa and Mana, but all four of them fought back by kncoking him out. To their surprise, Brutus did a kung-who move where he flipped them and just did a backflip head bash with his feet.

Hector chased decided to knock out all of them, but Marcus, Lehua and Pam weren't gonna take this lying down so both girls opted to kick him in the nuts and on the head, leaving Marcus to bodyslam him down with his back. All three of them landed some serious punches in the face and Mari was the next one to slap him in the face.

"That's for making a move on me." Mari added.

The boys didn't seem like they would give up at any minute and Nate asked, "Why would you even defend this freak?"

Jojo looked at both of them and replied, "Because we stick together though good times and bad and above all...we're all here for each other. And we can face off against people like you that would do nothing but make our lives miserable. And we would defend Brutus with our lives and keep him from you guys."

"Blah, blah, blah and your bullcrap continues." Hector added.

"No, your stupidity is bullcrap." Mari blurted out.

"You better watch who you're talking to!"

Diego and Marcus were ready to put this fight to bed and Diego was opted to beat them down with his fist and kicked them in the nuts while Marcus slammed them down to a tree, pantsing them down. They were completely surprised when they saw they were wearing unicorn and rainbow underwear and Mari burst out laughing and said, "And you call yourselves tough guys?"

Both boys snatched their pants and put them back on and Marcus went on to say, "If you ever decide to mess with one of us again, you know where to find us."

Nate and Hector walked away from them, both embarassed and pissed off and after that, Cody captured a picture of them in their underwear on his Who-phone and all of them were laughing hysterically at that. Diego then said, "You have got to put this in your Whosebook after school."

Cody snickered and said, "Why wait?"

With his Who-phone, he quickly sent the picture to his Whosebook pretty quickly and he said, "Now it's there for anyone to see."

They all walked back to the inside of the school and Marcus said, "They'll think twice before messing with us."

* * *

><p>Sorry if I made it short. Two more chapters left!<p> 


	14. A New Home

Now, this is gonna be freakin' awesome as well!

* * *

><p>Chapter 14: A New Home<p>

Days later, Marcus made his way home when he sees Brutus sitting on the front porch of his house and he could tell that with his dad dead, it's like he's got no one. He lets out a deep sigh as he walks by and he said, "Hey, Brutus."

Brutus looks up and he sees Marcus standing there in front of him and he said, "Hey, Marcus."

"How you doing?" asked Marcus.

Brutus lets out a heavy sigh and he replied, "Yeah, I'm cool."

Marcus sat down next to him on the porch and he just didn't really know what to say as he looked at him. He wishes that he could do something to make sure he's not alone anymore and he said, "Koa and Mana here?"

"Yeah, they're here." Brutus replied.

Marcus clears his throat and he said, "Are you still thinking about who you're gonna live with?"

"Um...not sure. I thought about Jojo, but I think that it might not be a best option." Brutus replied.

Marcus still had his mind set on taking him in, but he wasn't sure if Brutus would be okay with it and it was frustrating for him to ask him that question. Brutus could see Marcus getting a little anxious about something and he asked, "You okay?"

Marcus sighed in deep frustration over this and he replied, "No. I just thought since your dad's dead and all that you'd move in with my family."

Brutus looked a little surprised that Marcus would ask something like this and he said, "You sure? What about Mana and Koa?"

"They can join in too." Marcus replied.

Brutus didn't quite know what to say after something like this and they were both unaware that Koa and Mana were hearing this conversation throughout and they were completely surprised for Marcus to even consider it. Brutus then went on to say, "Do you think your parents will...?"

"I told them about you and they told me that you'd move in with them to have a really better environment." Marcus said.

Brutus lets out a smile and he just felt like he already found a big brother in Marcus and he stood up and said, "I really appreciate that."

"Hey, we're friends. We do things for each other." Marcus added, with a smile.

Suddenly, Koa and Mana walked out of the house right where Marcus and Brutus were standing and both of them felt completely grateful for Marcus' offer and Mana said, "That's a great thing for our cousin."

"Yeah, we'll be there for Brutus every step of the way." Koa added.

All of them went in for a group hug and for the first time in Brutus' life, he felt something that he never felt in all these years; he was loved.

Later on, Marcus takes them into the house and Koa, Mana and Brutus were surprised by how it looks from the inside and Koa chuckled softly and said, "How long have you lived there?"

"Couple of years. My mom kinda designed most of the house a few weeks after we moved here. She said it needed a taste of elegance but keeping it more like a modern home. I'm not sure what that means, but I'm guessing it's more of a welcoming feeling." Marcus replied.

"Looks pretty cool, actually." Brutus added.

They went upstairs and through the hallways and headed for the guest room and when they opened the door to the room, they could see that it was unlike any room they've never seen before and Marcus told them, "This one has all three bedrooms lined up together."

Marcus followed them to see their point and they walked through the walk-in bathroom and then as they walked past, there's another bedroom and as soon as they go through the closet, there's a bonus bedroom there. All three boys seemed very impressed by this and each of them claimed their own space. Brutus liked the first room the best because it's completely calm and relaxing, Koa likes the second one better because he can be close to both Mana and Brutus and suddenly, the last room took a sudden liking to Mana because of it's dark color and it's definitely something he can relate with.

"What you guys think?" asked Marcus.

Brutus looked around and he replied, "I'm completely glad that this is my new home now."

"Same here. I could get used to this." Koa said, with a smile.

Marcus went all around them and he said, "All the best for my new brothers."

A couple of hours after they settled themselves in, Brutus started strumming his who-kelele and he hopes that this is the start of a new beginning for him and that he'll leave the past behind once and for all. Just then, Marcus comes in the room and he asked, "How ya doing?"

Brutus turns around and looks at Marcus for a second and he replied, "Pretty good. I have no idea that in a short span of a week that my life would be changed."

"How do you mean?" asked Marcus.

"For so many years, I've had to endure the suffering abuse of my father and I felt like I was never gonna be good enough for anything or anyone. But after moving here...it's like everything I've ever had to deal with just went away because I was surrounded by good friends who are willing to stick by me." Brutus replied.

Marcus lets out a smile and he pats him in the back and he said, "It's never too late to have friends who will stick by you and we're all strong enough to handle whatever life throws at us. Always remember that, Moka."

"I will." Brutus said.

Both of them received a fist bump and hugged each other. Marcus was happy for Brutus and then, he said, "Welcome home."

* * *

><p>Again, sorry for making this short too. Last chapter is up!<p> 


	15. Like a Skyscraper

The grand finale!

* * *

><p>Chapter 15: Like a Skyscraper<p>

Another week passed by and Jojo and his friends were ready for the talent show, also referred to them as letting out their emotions on stage day for them. As they got prepped up, most of them felt ready to let their voices be heard about their personality.

When Brutus came with Marcus, Koa, Mana, Hoagie and Josh, it definitely made Jojo happy to know that Marcus would be the one to take Brutus into his home and Marcus said, "What's up, Jojo?"

Both of them smiled at each other and he said, "Pretty good. You ready to rock tonight?"

"We all are."

"That was a great thing you did; take Brutus, Mana and Koa in your place. I have to say that I'm happy for Brutus." Jojo said.

"So are we." Jonah said.

A few minutes later, they called Marcus first to perform and when he walked onto the stage, he definitely felt like he was ready to rock. He got on the mic and he said, "This is a song I wrote sometime recently because I felt like if there was ever a time when we all need each other through the heavy stuff in our lives, we have to remember that we all are one."

Marcus then strums his guitar and he begins to sing his song to the entire audience.

_We are the lost_  
><em>The ones forgotten<em>  
><em>And this time<em>  
><em>The future is ours<em>  
><em>It's in our hands<em>

_We're the tear in your eyes_  
><em>We're the blood in your veins<em>  
><em>We're the beat of your hearts<em>  
><em>We're the sweat on your face<em>  
><em>We're the ones that you chase<em>  
><em>We're the promise that you made<em>  
><em>We're the voice in your head<em>  
><em>We're the lies that you said<em>  
><em>We're the kids that you pushed away<em>  
><em>We are...<em>

_We are the lost_  
><em>The ones forgotten<em>  
><em>And this time<em>  
><em>The future is ours<em>  
><em>It's in our hands<em>  
><em>We are one<em>

_We're the pride of your lives_  
><em>We're the light shining deep in your eyes<em>  
><em>We're the choice that you made<em>  
><em>We're the smile on your face<em>  
><em>When you sleep at night<em>  
><em>We're the best thing you had<em>  
><em>But you left us behind<em>  
><em>We're the kids that you pushed away<em>

_We are the lost_  
><em>The ones forgotten<em>  
><em>And this time<em>  
><em>The future is ours<em>  
><em>It's in our hands<em>  
><em>We are one, one<em>

_We're the pain that you feel_  
><em>We're the scars that don't heal<em>  
><em>We're the tear in your eyes<em>  
><em>We're the reason you cry<em>  
><em>We're the voice in your head<em>  
><em>We're the lies that you said<em>  
><em>We're the best thing you had<em>  
><em>But you pushed us away<em>

_We are the lost_  
><em>The ones forgotten<em>  
><em>And this time<em>  
><em>The future is ours<em>  
><em>It's in our hands<em>  
><em>We are, we are the lost<em>  
><em>The ones forgotten<em>  
><em>And we've got nothing to lose<em>  
><em>Together we stand up tall<em>  
><em>We are one<em>

Everyone made a massive amount of cheers and applause for Marcus' performance and he took a bow as he walked off the stage and everyone from backstage totally got his support. Brutus went up to him and he said, "That was amazing."

"Thanks. It was inspired by most of our times we faced before and how we can all stand up against the face of rejection and hatred." Marcus added.

"I wish I wrote that song." Jojo added.

Marcus chuckled softly and he said, "Even if you did write it, it'd still be as good as I wrote it."

Later on, Jojo was up next and he was feeling the extra boost to perform his heart out. He sat down on the stool as he strummed his Who-guitar and was ready to tug everyone's heartstrings.

_I tried to be perfect_  
><em>But nothing was worth it<em>  
><em>I don't believe it makes me real<em>  
><em>I thought it'd be easy<em>  
><em>But no one believes me<em>  
><em>I meant all the things I said<em>

_If you believe it's in my soul_  
><em>I'd say all the words that I know<em>  
><em>Just to see if it would show<em>  
><em>That I'm trying to let you know<em>  
><em>That I'm better off on my own<em>

_This place is so empty_  
><em>My thoughts are so tempting<em>  
><em>I don't know how it got so bad<em>  
><em>Sometimes it's so crazy<em>  
><em>That nothing can save me<em>  
><em>But it's the only thing that I have<em>

_If you believe it's in my soul_  
><em>I'd say all the words that I know<em>  
><em>Just to see if it would show<em>  
><em>That I'm trying to let you know<em>  
><em>That I'm better off on my own<em>

_On my own_

_I tried to be perfect_  
><em>It just wasn't worth it<em>  
><em>Nothing could ever be so wrong<em>  
><em>It's hard to believe me<em>  
><em>It never gets easy<em>  
><em>I guess I knew that all along<em>

_If you believe it's in my soul_  
><em>I'd say all the words that I know<em>  
><em>Just to see if it would show<em>  
><em>That I'm trying to let you know<em>  
><em>That I'm better off on my own<em>

Everyone was applauding for Jojo and most of them gave him a standing ovation and for Jojo, it was like a shining moment dawned upon him. He took a bow and then walked off the stage and into backstage and Cody looked at Jojo was awestruckness in him and he said, "I recorded the entire performance! How did you come up with something like that?"

"You know that feeling you get when you try to be perfect for someone else, it always ends up falling flat on your face and that you're better off doing this on your own? That's what I felt when I wrote this and I was thinking about my dad at that point because I want to breakaway from the family tradition of being mayor." Jojo replied.

"That's deep." Mike added.

Next up, Koa and Mana went onstage to showcase their talents and Koa started strumming his who-kelele as him and Mana started singing together.

_Tell me where our time went_  
><em>And if it was time well spent<em>  
><em>Just don't let me fall asleep<em>  
><em>Feeling empty again<em>

_Cause I fear I might break_  
><em>and I fear I can't take it<em>  
><em>Tonight I'll lie awake feeling empty<em>

_I can feel the pressure_  
><em>It's getting closer now<em>  
><em>We're better off without you<em>  
><em>I can feel the pressure<em>  
><em>It's getting closer now<em>  
><em>We're better off without you<em>

_Now that I'm losing hope_  
><em>And there's nothing else to show<em>  
><em>For all of the days that we spent<em>  
><em>Carried away from home<em>

_Some things I'll never know_  
><em>And I had to let them go<em>  
><em>I'm sitting all alone feeling empty<em>

_I can feel the pressure_  
><em>It's getting closer now<em>  
><em>We're better off without you<em>  
><em>I can feel the pressure<em>  
><em>It's getting closer now<em>  
><em>We're better off without you<em>

_Without you_

_Some things I'll never know_  
><em>And I had to let them go<em>  
><em>Some things I'll never know<em>  
><em>And I had to let them go<em>  
><em>I'm sitting all alone feeling empty<em>

_I can feel the pressure_  
><em>It's getting closer now<em>  
><em>We're better off without you<em>

_Feel the pressure_  
><em>It's getting closer now<em>  
><em>You're better off without me<em>

Everyone completely got into this song and it left the crowd applauding and cheering for them as the two brothers walked out of the stage and into backstage where all eyes were on Brutus, because he was up next. Brutus took a deep breath and he went on stage for the first time and he brought in his who-kelele and began to sing.

_Skies are crying_

_I am watching_

_Catching teardrops in my hands_

_Only silence as it's ending_

_Like we never had a chance_

_Do you have to make me feel like_

_there's nothing left of me?_

_You can take everything I have_

_You can break everything I am_

_Like I'm made of glass_

_Like I'm made of paper_

_Go on and try to tear me down_

_I will be rising from the ground_

_Like a skyscraper_

_Like a skyscraper_

_As the smoke clears_

_I awaken_

_and untangle you from me_

_Would it make you feel better_

_to watch me while I bleed?_

_All my windows still a broken_

_but I'm standing on my feet_

_You can take everything I have_

_You can break everything I am_

_Like I'm made of glass_

_Like I'm made of paper_

_Go on and try to tear me down_

_I will be rising from the ground_

_Like a skyscraper_

_Like a skyscraper_

_Go run, run, run_

_I'm gonna stay right here_

_Watch you disappear, yeah_

_Go run, run, run_

_Yeah, it's a long way down_

_But I'm closer to the clouds up here_

_You can take everyuthing I have_

_You can break everything I am_

_Like I'm made of glass_

_Like I'm made of paper, ohh..._

_Go on and try to tear me down_

_I will be rising from the ground_

_Like a skyscraper_

_Like a skyscraper..._

_Like a skyscraper_

_Like a skyscraper_

_Like a skyscraper..._

Brutus held on to his note for so long that it brought tears to everyone else's eyes and it was like nothing they ever heard before as they all stood up and cheered for him. Brutus never felt anything like this before and he started to realize that he did indeed...have brute strength. He walks off the stage and everyone else was cheering for him.

Jojo looked surprised and he asked, "That was awesome! What made you come up with the song?"

"All of the experiences I had within the past two weeks. I know that no matter what had happened in my life, like the world hates me and stuff...I have you guys to guide me and that I'll rise myself off the ground just like a skyscraper." Brutus replied.

It was in that moment that those words stuck to everyone and Marcus said, "Well spoken, bro. Well spoken."

* * *

><p>And that's it! The songs were 'One' from Simple Plan, 'Pieces' from Sum 41, 'Pressure' from Paramore and 'Skyscraper' from Demi Lovato. I'd like to thank my friends; vampire1031, lightfaith0606 and whozonegirl for getting me back to make at least one HHAW fic. Hope you like it! AniUniverse is out!<p> 


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